The Return of Uzumaki
by Hakker
Summary: Rated M for later chapters. When Naruto returns from another training trip with Jiraiya, will he be allowed to pick up his normal life once more? NaruSaku
1. Chapter 1: He's back

My story takes place when Naruto is the age of 18. Sasuke is back in the village, Orochimaru and all of the Akatsuki, with the exception of Sasori who has been replaced by Tobi, are still alive, Naruto is just on his way back from another training mission (lasted 2 years) and nobody knows he's coming back yet. That's about all the important stuff.

On another important, yet later not. Please be aware that this was written before a certain's character's death in the manga, and that he will appear in this fanfiction, since I haven't had the time to find a replacement for him.

Last note : I already uploaded the first couple of chapters of this story a week or so ago, but due to an accident, it was deleted, and I wasn't made aware until today, I apologise for any inconvience.

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters, if I did, it would look weirder...

All flames will be used to make square enix remake FF7.

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A yellow haired man was walking over a path surrounded by forest. Walking in front of him was a middle aged man with white hair that went all the way down to his heels. "Are we there yet?" The yellow haired man whined. "For the ninth time, no, Naruto!" The elder snapped at the man known as Naruto. "Sorry Jiraiya, it's just that it's been so long, I wonder if Sakura gave up on Sasuke yet?" Naruto said as he looked up at the sky. _"That boy is still after Sakura? Heh, he's still as persistent as ever."_ The man known as Jiraiya thought. "Say, Naruto. What's the first thing your going to do when you get back?" Jiraiya asked as he came to a halt. Naruto walked past Jiraiya as he pondered his question. _"Please don't say ramen..."_ "Eat ramen!" Naruto yelled as he stopped and turned towards Jiraiya, who sighed under his breath.

"I'm sorry sir, but you'll have to identify yourself." A guard standing in front of the gate into Konoka asked Jiraiya, who became mildly annoyed by the man. For the last fifteen minutes, Jiraiya was trying to explain to the man who he was. Naruto was leaning against the gate wearing his childish grin as his mentor was driving himself crazy. "I told you before, I am one of the three sannin of Konoka, Jiraiya!" Naruto's mentor yelled at the guard. "With all due respect sir, you don't look like a ninja, let alone a sannin. And your to old to be a ninja..." The guard said. At this point Naruto burst out laughing. "Alright, I've had it... Rasengan!" Jiraiya yelled as he cut a hole into the gate using his chakra. The guard's mouth fell open as both Naruto and Jiraiya walked through the gate. "That gate was unlocked, you know..." Naruto said while glaring at Jiraiya.

"You havn't been back for an hour and you already broke one of our gates!?" The Fifth Hokage yelled at the sannin. "blame your incompetent guard for not believing that I was a sannin, Tsunade." the man shot back. Naruto was standing in the back of the room with Shizune. Both were staring at how the sannins argued. "And what did you do?" Tsunade asked as she glared at Naruto. "Nothing worth mentioning... But I do have a request." The man said as he met Tsunade's glare. "A request? You being so polite is unusual, even if you would spend five years of learning manners." Tsunade said. "Well, could I participate in the next chuunin exams?" Naruto asked. Tsunade pondered it for a moment. "Considering all you have achieved, I suppose I can ask the other kage's what to do with you at the next meeting." Tsunade said, lighting a smile on Naruto's face. Shizune grinned from the other side of the room as Naruto hopped out of the room happily. "We both know you don't need the permission of the other kage's to promote Naruto to chuunin." Shizune said, slightly confused. "Who said anything about promoting him to chuunin?" Tsunade answered with an evil glint in her eyes. Shizune thought about it for a moment, then started laughing. A clueless Jiraiya slowly made his way to the door.

Naruto walked up to his old appartment and saw a letter hanging on the door. Naruto plucked the letter of the door and started reading it.

**"Dear reader, the owner of this appartment has been moved to his own house in this street, house 7B. This was ordered by the fifth hokage."**

Naruto taped the letter back on the door and made his way to said house. The house was not very big, but it was a great improvement from his appartment. Naruto found the door open and walked in. "Is anybody here?" Naruto said as he made his way towards the living room. "Oh, your finally back, Naruto?" a voice asked from behind him. "Yamato-sensei?" Naruto said as he turned towards the source of the voice. "What are you doing here, sensei?" Naruto asked. "I live here, Naruto..." Yamato said in a patient tone. "Whaaaaaaat? But I thought this was my house! Does that mean I have to live with you?" Naruto said as he cursed Tsunade in his mind. "Yes, I have to make sure Kyuubi doesn't try anything fishy..." Yamato said as he gave Naruto a blueprint of the house. "Now, some rules, be home by midnight, no bringing girls here, like you could get any, and most imporantly : keep training." Yamato said with an amused smirk on his face. _"So, this is what it feels like to have a father... I'm eighteen and now Tsunade lets somebody take care of me?"_ Naruto thought as he went to eat.

Naruto was walking down a street, looking for some familiar faces. He had already bumped into Shikamaru and Chouji, and he could've sworn hearing Hinata a number of times. When Naruto passed the hospital he heard a familiar voice shouting. Naruto walked into the hospital to see Sakura ordering the doctors and nurses around. When she saw Naruto she almost fainted. "Naruto!!! You come back to Konoka and you didn't even give me call?" Sakura said as she walked towards Naruto looking threatening. Jumping back and holding his hands up in defence, Naruto started sweating heavily. "Hey, take it easy Sakura, I had a lot on my mind, can you forgive me?" Naruto pleaded, fearing Sakura's wrath. Sakura calmed down before dismissing Naruto with her hand. "Fine, fine, just don't let it happen again." She said getting back to work. Naruto sighed and ran home before somebody else tried to kill him.

Naruto was standing in Tsunade's office, still half asleep. A knock on the door brought him to attention as he saw the others from the rookie nine enter together with their teachers. "What's going on, Tsunade-sama?" Ino asked as she saw who was in the room. "Your all being sent to a newly made village called 'Root'. It is located on the other side of 'The Great Naruto Bridge' in the mist village that was under control of Gatou until 6 years ago. You will stay there until the village has gotten strong enough to take S missions. The leaders of the village will be the jounins Asuma, Kakashi and Kurenai." Tsunade said calmly, observing all of the ninja in the room carefully. "Why do we need to make a second village?" Sakura asked. "Because the village where you will be heading is the weakest place in the land, so we have to reinforce it, and in the event that sound attacks, we can evacuate the civilians to Root. And if Konoha would ever be destroyed, we can regroup there and prepare to rebuild Konoha. Any other questions?" "Will Yamato-sensei come with us?" Naruto asked, concerned that the Kyuubi might weaken the seal. Tsunade merely nodded once. "Jiraiya and Shizune will also join you. You will be assigned with jobs when you arrive in Root. You leave tomorrow at dawn, get a good nights rest. Dismissed!" Tsunade said as all the ninja dissapeared.

Naruto rushed into his house and into his room to start packing. "Hey Naruto, getting ready to leave tomorrow?" Yamato asked as he came into Naruto's room with a cup of tea. Naruto merely nodded and didn't notice the wide grin on Yamato's face. _"He's just like his father."_ Yamato thought as he went back to his room.

The day of parting had come and a lot of people had gathered at the gate, most were coming along, like civilians, ninja's, academy students, and more. But some just came to wave them off. Naruto sat down on a stone and watched the people say goodbye to their relatives. After ten minutes both Shikamaru and Chouji joined Naruto. "This whole trip is going to be troublesome..." Shikamaru sighed. "For you, even sleeping is troublesome." Naruto mocked the lazy Nara genius. Chouji opened a bag of chips and grinned slightly at how his friends argued. "Really, all you guys do is argue..." Ino said as she and Sakura sat down with them. Naruto grinned at the comment and gave Shikamaru a gentle push towards Ino. Shino and Kiba jumped out of a nearby tree and sat down with the group, watching the gate. Soon all of the rookie nine were sitting on the grass next to eachother, quietly watching people say goodbye to their friends and family. "Havn't been back for two days and I get sent away again... Does Tsunade have something against me?" Naruto whined making everyone laugh. "Say Naruto, why did you need to know if Yamato was coming?" Chouji asked, making sweat appear on Sakura's, Sasuke's and Naruto's head. Naruto looked over to Sasuke who slowly nodded his head. "Well, you all know the Kyuubi right?" Naruto asked, and when he saw everyone nod he took a deep breath. "Eighteen years ago, on the night I was born, the Kyuubi was locked inside of me." Naruto said, making everyone's eyes widen, except for Sakura's and Sasuke's, who already knew about this. "Yamato's 'bloodline' as you may call it, allows him to keep the Kyuubi under control, in case he gets out." Naruto said, letting the information sink into his friends. There was a minute of silence. "That is sooooo cool!" Ino squeeled, making an end to the silence. Shikamaru patted Naruto on the shoulder once and they started talking about moving once more.

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And were off! Chapter one has left the building!


	2. Chapter 2: Secrets revealed

I finally got around to starting chapter two. I just hope this doesn't take as long as chapter one did.

Before you people start asking, I wrote this story before a certain character's death in the manga, and since I don't want to replace him (and it would be hard), I'll have to ignore it.

Don't own. Don't sue.

All flames will be used to burn the akatsuki.

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Naruto sighed. He didn't want to leave Konoha again. Nor did he want to tell his friends about Kyuubi. _"At least they took it well, unlike most adults in the village."_ Naruto thought as he let himself fall back into the grass. "Alright people, we're moving out!" Asuma shouted from the front of the caravan. Naruto cursed under his breath and ran towards it.

The trip itself was without problems, even though Shikamaru was calling it "Troublesome" the entire time. When they had arrived in the mist village their mouths fell open. Everything was named after Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke or Kakashi. "Alright, we're staying here for an hour and then we'll make our way over the bridge." Asuma yelled as everyone made their way into town. Naruto ran off into a ramen shop named after himself, shortly followed by Yamato. "Hello sir, what'll it be?" The cook asked. "Miso ramen, please, and what do you want Yamato-sensei?" Naruto asked as he sat down at one of the bar seats. "I'll have the same, please." Yamato said as he sat down next to Naruto. "We don't get a lot of strangers around here, let alone konoha ninja, mind if I ask why your here?" the cook asked as he sat the bowls of ramen down in front of them. "There you are, blondy." A voice called from behind Naruto. "Hey Sai, I'm suprised your not dead yet, with your selection of nicknames..." Naruto said as he turned to face the slightly older man. "Naruto... Can't you and Sai ever get along?" Yamato mumbled as he gulped down some of his noodles. He was also the only one to notice that the cook's mouth fell open after Yamato said that sentence. "Bandits!" A voice boomed from the street. Naruto, Yamato & Sai took this as their cue to run out of the shop.

"Weak, your all weak!" The leader of a small group of bandits said. "Well, they arn't ninja's.." Naruto said from the other side of the street. "Oh look, these guys have imitation headbands!" one of the bandits snorted. "Why don't you see if I'm a match for you guys or not?" they had already attracted some viewers on the rooftops. "Arn't we going to help him, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura mumbled from next to her teacher. "We both know he can take them on easily, and I'm sure everyone here wants to see Naruto in action." Kakashi said as he focused both his eyes on Naruto. The bandits all drew their katanas and rushed at Naruto head on. Naruto simply cut through the katanas with his bare hands as a hot knife cut through butter. "Interesting, he's using his chakra to turn his hands into lethal weapons, but the layer is so thin that it cannot be seen..." Kakashi said as he hid his sharingan eye. The bandits fell to the ground soon enough and Naruto places his foot on the leader's chest. "W-what are you?" The leader muttered as he looked at the ruined katanas. "I am Uzumaki Naruto, and if I ever see you here again, I'll be cutting you into pieces." Naruto said as he tried to tune out the various cheers coming from all directions. "Alright, people, we're leaving in five minutes! Meet at the bridge." Asuma's voice boomed through Naruto's headphone.

Naruto was chatting with the rest of the konoha nine when Root came into view. "Alright everyone, your jounin instructors will escort you to your appartments, bad news is that you'll have a roommate, worst news is that one out of 3 will be stuck with his jounin instructor." Kurenai said, resulting in a lot of groans in the group. Five minutes later Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura & Kakashi were standing in a hallway. "Me & Sasuke will occupy appartment 7. Naruto & Sakura will occupy appartment 6. Wipe that smile off your face Naruto, your in seperate bedrooms." Kakashi said resulting from laughs from the team.

"With all due respect Kakashi-sensei, but why did you put Naruto & Sakura together?" Sasuke asked. "Two reasons. One, he is starting to look like me, meaning that he's always late. Hopefully Sakura can change that. Two : I don't wanna be stuck with Naruto 24/7 for months on end, I'm sure you think the same way." Kakashi said before heading towards the kitchen. "Oh, and there's another, small, reason. There won't be any ramen in town for the next two weeks..." "Poor Sakura..."

"I'm telling you Sakura I won't peek on you while your asleep!" Naruto said. "That's what they all say..." Sakura shot back. "Oh come on, we've been on how many missions? And how many times were we forced to sleep outside together?" Naruto said trying to cleanse his name. Sakura thought about it for a moment before waving him off. "Fine, fine, but your cooking tonight!" Sakura said, leaving no room for discussion as she closed the door to her room.

Naruto awoke the next morning to a pair of eyes looking straight at him.. He shot up, headbutting the stranger, who fell to the ground. "What is your head made off? Metal?" The stranger yelled at him. Naruto turned around to see that Sakura was the stranger. "What the hell were you doing?" Naruto asked as he rubbed his forehead. "I came to wake you up lazy bum, we have to meet at the main office in an hour, they're distributing tasks." Sakura said as she saw Naruto run out of the room, grabbing his clothes along the way.

"Sakura & Shizune will lead the hospital. Chouji, Kiba & Shikamaru will become teachers at the academy. Sasuke & Jiraiya will be in charge of defence. Naruto will become my assistant and all the others will have to get ready to take missions and students." Kakashi said. Everyone left to get ready for work until the only one left standing across Kakashi was Naruto. "Why pick me as your assistant? Shizune has more experience at it and Sakura can manage the hospital without her." "You want to know the real reason? Fine. If one of the Akatsuki or Orochimaru were to attack Root, you would be the best chance we have to fight them off. Which is why I gave you a position as close to town as possible. That and it'll help you see how hard it is to be a hokage." Kakashi said with a serious look in his eyes. Naruto pondered about it for a moment. "Fine, but I wanna do the mission requests!" Naruto said as he snatched one of the piles of papers from Kakashi's desk. "Damn that fast guy, he got the fun part!" Kakashi mumbled.

"Kakashi-sensei, can I have a word with you? In private?" Sakura asked as she dismissed the nurses. Kakashi nodded and followed Sakura to her office. "I've been wanting to ask you this since we arrived. Why are there no records of the Uzumaki clan in Konoha's records?" Sakura asked. She noticed Kakashi's visible eye widen. "I suppose we can't keep it hidden forever. The Uzumaki clan was the strongest clan in konoha for a long time. They had nearly unlimited stamina and could muster huge amounts of chakra, therefore they could master any jutsu in a short amount of time. However they were stubborn, most of the time. Twenty-five or so years ago, a small war was waged against the now destroyed 'village of the flames'. They acted in the name of the fire country, bringing shame to konoha and the entire fire country. So the Uzumaki clan was sent to destroy them. It was a trap. Using a kinjutsu, the leader of the village blew himself and the entire village up, killing everyone in it. Including the Uzumaki's." Kakashi paused as Sakura digested the information. "Only one of them returned. Uzumaki Arashi, who died on the night Kyuubi attacked." Sakura's eyes widened. "Not THE Arashi?" Sakura said as she got up and took a book out of her shelf. Kakashi nodded. "He made me promise never to tell Naruto who his parents were. Until this day I have yet to find out why, but I respect his wish." Kakashi said as he slowly made his way out of the office.

Naruto entered the appartment exhausted to see Ino and Sakura their, chatting. "You ladies don't mind if I go lay down and die somewhere, do you?" Naruto said as he slumped into a chair. "Of course not! As long as you stay out the way and don't stink the place up!" Sakura giggled. "Anyway, Naruto, why did YOU out of all people get to be the second most important man in the village?" Ino asked. "Well, Apparently I'm the strongest person in the village, and the only one who can stand up to Akatsuki. So Kakashi wants me close in case of an attack. Now I'm going to bed. Have a good night." Naruto said as he got up and walked into his bedroom, leaving both girls staring into his direction with open mouths. "Heh, looks like little Naruto is growing up" Ino said while grinning at Sakura, who merely nodded.

"Kakashi-sama! There are problems in the mist village, a band of rounins and missing-nin are preparing to plunder the town!" Ino said as she ran into the office. Kakashi looked at Naruto who nodded and ran out of the room. "Arn't we going to help him?" Ino asked when Naruto had left the office. "He doesn't need our help, we'd just be in the way." Ino stared at Kakashi. _"Just how strong is he?" _Ino thought as she left the room.

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Finally finished chapter two, man this took long. Don't kill me for using Arashi...


	3. Chapter 3: Touring around Mist

I just watched an interesting debate, with Jack Thompson and Adam Sessler. And I must say, my respect for Adam just skyrocketed!

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Naruto arrived in the town, he found it nearly empty. The only people he saw were clearly the missing-nin. "Oooh, looks like they sent a ninja from that village. Just one? I'm insulted..." One of the rounin said. "Hey boy, before we kill you, what rank are you? Chuunin? Jounin?" A missing-nin from cloud said. "Genin." "Heh, then we won't even need all thirty of our men." the missing nin from Cloud said as he charged at Naruto.

Naruto sighed as a ball of chakra formed in his hand. The missing nin was about to hit him when Naruto slammed the ball into his chest, sending the ninja reeling. Gasps and cheers were clearly hearable after that attack. Standing behind Naruto were some other ninja, including Sakura & Sasuke. All the people from the village were looking at the fight from their windows. "If we all charge together, he can't beat us!" a rounin said as they all started charging. Naruto bit his thumb, wiped some blood over his hand and made some seals before muttering "Kuchiyose no jutsu." A small army of man sized frogs appeared. "Sticking to the classics, Naruto?" Sakura whispered just loud enough for Sasuke to hear. "Naruto-sama, are those charging towards us friend or foe?" the leader of the group said, making a lot of people gasp, not only could the frog talk, it's master was Naruto! "Foe, do with them as you please, just don't kill them." "Understood." The frog said as all the frogs opened their mouths and shot their tongues at the charging foe's. Some were hit to the ground, others were grabbed and flung aside, but only three remained standing. Those three turned and fled, but what was behind them was enough to make them piss their pants. At least 100 Naruto's were standing their, cracking their fists. The remaining men fell to their knees and begged for their life.

Naruto had unsummoned his frogs & kage bushins and Sasuke was leading the missing nin's towards the prison when a large group of people crowded around Naruto. "Uhoh, looks like Naruto is gonna drown, I should get him out of there..." Sakura whispered as she dove into the sea of people. She came out five minutes later holding Naruto in her hand and they ran off.

"Did we lose those fangirls yet?" Sakura asked as she looked behind her. "I still hear the 'I want to have your babies' screams, so no." Naruto said as he started to run even faster. "Who would want to have a child with you anyway? They clearly don't know you well." "Ye... Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" "Slow as always arn't you?" Sakura joked. Naruto couldn't help but grin as they took to the rooftops. "Hey, there's a monument next to the bridge, wanna go check it out?" Naruto asked as he pointed to the bridge. Sakura nodded and they sped of towards the bridge.

The monument was a sculpture of Naruto fighting Haku with Sakura & Sasuke to back him up and Kakashi fighting Zabuza. Under it was a plaque reading : "**This monument is dedicated to the konoha team seven consisting out of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi. Their strength and bravery saved our town from the clutches of Gatou." **Naruto stared at the monument for a while. "What's with the sad face, Naruto?" Sakura asked. "I wonder... I wonder if Haku and Zabuza would've become friends of us in different surcemstances..." Sakura grew silent. "Hey, forget about that, let's get to the village, I gotta show you something!" Sakura said as she pulled Naruto towards the bridge.

"**_THIS_** is what you wanted to show me so bad?" Naruto said as he pointed towards the clothing shop Sakura had dragged him to. "Not the shop, but something inside." Sakura said, making Naruto put on a confused face. Sakura grinned evily and walked into the shop, shortly followed by the confused Naruto. "Good evening miss Sakura, the clothes you ordered have arrived. This way please." The shop clerk said as she walked into the back of the store. The clerk took a yellow with black colored shirt, and matching pants into her hands. "These are for the young man, I suppose? The clerk said. Naruto took a good look at the clothes. Unlike the ones he usually wears, these would stick to his body, making it easier to move, and making his muscles visible, even with the clothes on. "Well Naruto, what do you think?" Sakura said with a wide grin on her face. "It's nice I suppose, but what's the occasion?" Naruto asked, not trusting it. "Just put them on!" Sakura yelled as she threw the clothes at him. Naruto walked into the changing room cursing in many different languages. "So, are you and that young man related, miss Sakura?" The clerk asked. "We're team members and we've been friends for ages, Sarah." Sakura said as she sat down with a magazine. "Just friends huh? In that case you don't mind if I try my luck with him?" Sarah said serious, making Sakura fall out of her chair.

Naruto came out of the changing room and both the girls couldn't help but gasp. The clothes sticked to Naruto's body, making it look like a second skin, and making his muscles become visible, unlike with his previous clothes. "Say Naruto, are you busy tomorrow?" Sarah started with an evil look in her eyes. "Euhm no, why?" Naruto asked. Sakura felt jealous, she had to think of something quick! "Well, I was wondering If you would want to go have dinner with me?" Sakura asked before she realised what she did. Sarah looked at Sakura with an intention to kill, who returned an even more venemous look.. "Euhm sure Sakura, why not?" Naruto said as he tried to break up the stare of. Sakura nodded happily and dragged Naruto out of the shop.

Naruto sighed. What had he gotten himself into? Two girls were fighting over him, and he didn't even know one of the two! Apparently, Sakura had won the fight, since she was the one dragging him around town. "Euhm, Sakura? Where are we going?" Naruto asked when he wasn't able to recognise his surroundings. "First were going to tell Kakashi were leaving for a while, then we're going to Konoha." Sakura said as she sped towards the main building. "Why would we want to go to Konoha?" Naruto said as he got Sakura to let go of his hand. "I need to talk to my parents. And regarding you I need to talk to Tsunade, and I need you there to help clear things up." Sakura said, making Naruto even more confused. He decided that it would be best just to see what she was up to.

"Absolutely not!" Kakashi stated firmly. "We need Naruto in case the Akatsuki tries something, Jiraiya might be enough for Orochimaru, but if more then one member of Akatsuki attacks, we need Jiraiya's surpassor." Kakashi continued, making Naruto blush. "It's not like the chances that they come here are big..." Sakura mumbled. "Well, half of them are after Naruto, and Itachi and Kisame are after Sasuke. So I think it's best if you go alone, Sakura." Kakashi said. Sakura cursed under her breath before sighing and nodding.

Sakura walked past the gates of Konoha. Even though she had been gone for less then a month she had missed the town. She immediantly sped off towards Tsunade's office. She barged in without even knocking, finding Tsunade with a bottle of sake in her hand. "I knew it." She mused playfully. Tsunade hid the bottle and straightened her posture. "What are you doing back in Konoha, Sakura?" Tsunade asked, slightly irritated. "Well, I need all the files on the Uzumaki clan, and I have some questions." Sakura said as she walked over to Tsunade's desk. "I'm suprised you know about those files, Sakura. Either way, It doesn't matter. I can't give you those files. There is a chance that they may fall in Naruto's hands, which could lead to some... Unfortunate results. Now what were those questions?" Tsunade asked, trying to change the subject. Sakura was silent for a while. "Just one, does the Uzumaki clan have a bloodline?" Sakura asked. "I think Naruto's father discovered some sort of jutsu that only Uzumaki's could use, he never told anyone about it though. Now I have a request. Could you deliver these papers to Kakashi when you get back?" Tsunade asked as she shoved an envelop in Sakura's hands. "Sure, but now I gotta go visit my parents. And remember Tsunade, no more sake during work!" Sakura exclaimed as she closed the door behind her. "Party pooper..." Tsunade mumbled.

"I will not let you go out with that beast!" Sakura's father exclaimed. Sakura slapped her father across the face, sending him reeling through the room. "Don't you dare talk about Naruto like that!" Sakura yelled. "Now now Hattori, Sakura has the right to go out with whoever she wants. And besides Naruto isn't that bad." Sakura's mother replied. "But Kaoru, that boy is dangerous! If he snaps he could take out everyone in the village!" Hattori exclaimed. "And I suppose the twelve year of name calling, rock throwing and discrimination were meant to stop him from snapping?" Sakura asked. Hattori grew silent. Sakura knew she had him beat, but decided to make this one to remember. "And who knows, maybe I'll marry him someday." Sakura said with an evil glint in her eyes. Truly she had no intentions to marry Naruto, or even go on a lot of dates with him. Hattori's grew infuriated, who did that foxboy think he is? He'd have to go over to root but by god he would stop that boy from breathing, even if it was the last thing he did. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to root." Sakura said as she walked out. "Pack your bags honey, we're moving to root." Hattori said when Sakura had left.

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Yes I made up the names of Sakura's parents, because, well, have we even SEEN them yet?


	4. Chapter 4: loving parents?

I never thought my story would last this long, I've dropped all of my projects, including another fanfic, for this. And I must say this story is the best thing I ever wrote.

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Sakura cursed under her breath multiple times. Why did her father have to be stupid and not accept Naruto as the great ninja he is? She sighed, her father would probably have to see the proof with his own eyes. She arrived in Root quicker then she had expected, and was suprised to see a large group of ANBU's standing in front of the main building. She walked past them and entered Kakashi's office. "Back already, Sakura?" Kakashi asked. "Already? I was gone for 6 hours, what did you do the entire time? Sleep?" Sakura joked as she tossed the envelope on Kakashi's desk. Curious, he opened the envelope and began to read the letter. "Can you bring Naruto and Shikamaru over first thing in the morning?" Kakashi asked. Sakura nodded. "Now go get some sleep. You must be tired." Kakashi said as he put the letter away.

Sakura opened the door to the appartment to see Naruto making home made ramen. "Hey Sakura, how were things back in Konoha?" Naruto asked. "My father and Tsunade were as stubborn as ever." Sakura said. A bang on the door caused Naruto to concentrate his chakra around his hands. Sakura opened and almost fainted at what she saw. Standing in the door opening were Sakura's parents. "Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, but she already knew the answer. "Well honey, your father was feeling worried, so we were wondering if we could move into your second bedroom?" Kaoru asked. "I would, but Naruto lives in the second bedroom. "That freak lives under the same roof as you!?" Hattori exclaimed. "What did you call me?" Naruto asked as he stepped out of the kitchen. becoming infuriated, Hattori charged at Naruto, who let Hattori hit him. "What have you done to my daughter you monster!?" He cried out as he slammed Naruto into the wall. Naruto simply got up and let Hattori punch him. "Father stop it! He didn't decide this! Naruto, just fight back, I don't care about people that call you a monster!" Sakura yelled. "You think this punk will be able to land a punch on me? Why your as foolish as Kakashi!" Hattori snorted. Now Naruto was getting mad. "Outside... Now..." Naruto said as he walked out of the appartment.

"Bring it on, you demon fox." Hattori said as they arrived at the academy training grounds. Naruto charged forward towards Hattori, who threw a clumsy punch at him. Naruto grabbed Hattori's fist and started putting pressure on it. "I suggest you give up before I break it." Naruto said calm. Hattori spat in Naruto's face "I will never give up to the likes of you!" "Very well then." Naruto said as he broke the bone and swung Hattori away. Naruto ran through some handseals and a small tornado smacked Hattori into a nearby tree. "I think I overdid it..." Naruto mumbled. Hattori fell out of the tree and tried to stand up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I left my dinner on the stove." Naruto said as he turned and walked back to the appartment.

Naruto awoke early in the morning, which was unusual. Opening his eyes, he noticed that Sakura was shaking him around. "Sakura? What's the matter? It's still early!" Naruto said as he turned away from Sakura. "You are wanted in Kakashi's office, he says it's important." Sakura said patiently. Naruto cursed under his breath as he got up and got ready to go to the office.

Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura were standing in Kakashi's office, wondering what was going on. Kakashi cleared his throat"Ok, first of all good news for Naruto. Your fired." Naruto's eyes widened. "FIRED!?" "Yes, I'm giving you a new job, free-lance guard." Kakashi said. Naruto grinned before saying : "You just made that job up, didn't you?" Kakashi nodded. "Anyway, your going on a mission, we need the three of you to go and convince Sagara Sanosuke and Himura Kenshin to come to Root." Kakashi said as he gave Shikamaru two pictures and some files. "They travel from hidden village to hidden village, they were last seen on their way to Cloud from Sound. Now go!" Kakashi said as the three ninja dissapeared.

"Where to first? Cloud?" Naruto asked as the team sped through the forest. "No, the main route between Sound and Cloud, there is a small town that acts as a border, and no matter how fast you travel, the authorities will keep you in there for several days. And going around it is impossible, because the border is surrounded by mountains that would take weeks to climb." Shikamaru explained. "Why are we after them anyway?" Naruto asked. "I have no idea, Kenshin is a wellknown rurouni, and Sanosuke is a brawler and used to be a fighter-for-hire." Shikamaru said as he gave Sakura the pictures. "Looks like that Sanosuke will give us some problems, the Kenshin fellow doesn't look so bad." Sakura said as she gave the pictures to Naruto. "Trying to make me jealous?" Naruto asked as he cast a look on the pictures.

The rurouni had red hair that went down to his thighs, and was bound together in a ponytail from the neck down. He had a cross shaped scar on his left cheek and had a katana, strapped to his belt. His clothes were a number of yukata's worn over eachother. The brawler was wearing a white jacket that he didn't bother to close, it also had a small 'wicked' kanji on it. He had black spikey hair, with a red lint tied around his head where his hairline started. His pants were white, but the most interesting thing about him was that he had a sword hanging over his shoulder that was longer then him. The sword seemed to drop all defence for offense. "At least we won't have trouble finding him, that sword is huge!" Naruto said.

After going through customs, Naruto's team arrived in the border town. "Alright, the town is small so there are only a few places they could be. The bar, the hotel or the hot springs being the best guesses. Naruto will go to the bar, Sakura the hotel, and I'll go to the hot springs." Shikamaru said as he pointed towards the locations. "We'll keep in touch with our headphones and when we find them, we'll meet back at here, alright?" Everyone nodded and they started running towards their target.

"Goodafternoon miss, how can we help you today?" The woman behind the counter asked as Sakura walked in. "I'm looking for Himura Kenshin and Sagara Sanosuke." Sakura replied. The woman turned her attention to a book in front of her and flipped some pages "Room 16 on the second floor." Sakura thanked her and ran up the stairs. She opened the door to the room and saw the rurouni sleeping in a corner, his katana laying across his chest. Sakura walked towards him and tried to give him a shove to wake him up. However two inches before she touched him, he grabbed her hand and drew his katana, holding it at her neck. "Who are you and who sent you?" Kenshin asked in a cold voice. "Haruno Sakura from Root." Sakura said between gulps. Kenshin withdrew his katana and let go of her hand. "I'm sorry, it's just that our package for Root has lead to a number of assaults, so we had to stay on guard." "Package? What package?" Sakura asked puzzled. Kenshin took a ring out of his robe and showed it to her. The ring was completely white, but the front part was a small red circle with the kanji 'Sky' in it. "What is this?"

Naruto walked into the bar and instantly saw a man with the 'Wicked' kanji on his back and a huge sword wrapped in cloth leaning against the wall sitting at the bar. He sat down next to him. "Sagara Sanosuke, I presume?" Naruto asked casually. "Who wants to know?" The man answered annoyed. "Uzumaki Naruto from Root." Without saying anything, the man got up and walked out of the tavern, motioning for Naruto to follow him. "Hey guys, I found Sagara." Naruto whispered in his headset. "I found Kenshin, let's meet in their room, number 16 on the second floor in the hotel." "We're on our way." "Troublesome, but I'll be there."

"So, what's the deal with this ring?" Shikamaru asked, holding it up for all to see. "This is Orochimaru's Akatsuki ring." Kenshin said. The mouths of both Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru fell open from that statement.

---

I hate to stop here, but for one thing I want to keep SOME of the story intact. For those who don't read the manga, the importance of the ring will be explained in the next chapter.

Sagara Sanosuke and Himura Kenshin are characters from Rurouni Kenshin, I'm just borrowing them.


	5. Chapter 5: Tsunade's plan

"Look, it's a very nice unique item, but it hasn't have any use, does it?" Naruto asked. "Actually, it does. The holder of this ring is the only person who gets to join Akatsuki as their tenth man." Sanosuke explained. Kenshin nodded and continued "Every akatsuki member has one, so if you defeat one of the members and take their rings, you will make the Akatsuki unable to get replacements." "So why give it to us?" Shikamaru asked. "Because we stole it from Orochimaru, and we need a place to live safely, Konoha seemed like the best option." Kenshin said. Sanosuke snorted "We expected some expert ninja's to escort us, but it looks like they gave us 3 rookies." Naruto bit his lip. "Don't let him get to you, Naruto. He doesn't know better." Sakura whispered. "What is it kid? Peed your diaper?" Sanosuke said. Kenshin sighed and was about so say something when Naruto jumped up. "You and me, outside, now." He said in a calm voice. Sanosuke nodded and followed Naruto out.

"How do you wanna do this?" Naruto asked. "Nothing that involves chakra, just plain old taijutsu." Sanosuke said as he took his stance. Naruto rushed straight at Sanosuke, who kicked him away before he was able to reach him. Naruto quickly got his act together and charged again, this time however he jumped into the air before reaching Sanosuke. Naruto came crashing down with his left foot aimed for Sanosuke, who sidestepped to the right to avoid it. Seeing this coming, Naruto threw his right leg into Sanosuke's gut. Sanosuke grabbed Naruto's leg and slammed him into the ground. Naruto grabbed Sanosuke's legs and pulled them from under him, making him fall down. During Sano's fall, Naruto jumped up and kneed Sano in the face, sending him flying into a rock. Kenshin ran towards the rock. "Sano, that is enough, don't get ahead of yourself!" He yelled. Sano got up and ran towards Naruto, who got into a defencive stance. Sano's fist contacted with Naruto's face, after which Sano let a flurry of blows loose on Naruto, never leaving him time to recover. When Sano stopped to catch his breath, his eyes widened when he saw Naruto wasn't even bruised. "Sano, that is enough!" Kenshin ordered. Sano grumbled but walked away from Naruto "The best fight I had in ages and you interrupt it!" "Troublesome... Can we go yet? Unless you two have learned how to use chakra, it'll be a long walk." Shikamaru said as he walked into the forest.

Gai and Ebisu was standing in front of Tsunade. "I still don't understand why you had to send Naruto, the village is strong enough without him." Gai said. "We know that, but most people in Konoha think differently about that, I want Naruto to get a clean start, and judging from the reports Asuma sent me, he's already a very loved individual." Tsunade said as she passed some reports to Gai. "That's not the only reason you sent him there, is it?" Ebisu asked as he peeked into the reports with Gai. Tsunade grumbled "Well, that's none of your business, but do you have anything to report?" "Well, it appears that Sakura's parents went to Root." Ebisu said in a quiet tone. Tsunade's eyes widened and she quickly started to write a letter. Gai looked worried and asked "Hokage-sama? Is something the matter?" "Gai, bring this letter to Kakashi with your team, and ask team Asuma and team Kurenai to come back here, you shall replace their positions." Tsunade said as she gave him an envelope with the freshly written letter in it. Gai nodded and dissapeared. "As for you Ebisu, go get Shiranui Genma, I have an important mission for him..." Ebisu nodded and took his leave.

Night had dawned so Shikamaru had ordered to set up camp. Kenshin had set himself against a tree with his sword in front of him and had fallen asleep almost instantly. "Does he always sleep like that?" Sakura asked Sanosuke. "Always, he's on high alert, if you get to close he can put his sword at your neck in half a second." Sano said as he slipped into his sleeping bag. Shikamaru put up some traps and alarms before he to went to sleep. Naruto was about to pull out his sleeping bag when Sakura took a hold of him and dragged him away from the camp. "Sakura where are we going?" Naruto asked. Sakura just sped up until they arrived in a clearing. Sakura and Naruto sat down. "Some first date huh?" Sakura spoke. Naruto suddenly realised he was going to take Sakura to diner tonight, but the mission made him forget it. He cursed himself but then the words 'first date' got through his thick skull, and it felt like he was in heaven. There were going to be more dates! They spent the rest of the night talking to eachother.

Shikamaru woke the team at dawn, to the annoyance of a tired Sakura and Naruto. When they finally arrived at Root, a voice boomed through the air "Konoha Senpu!" Naruto jumped back just in time to dodge a killer kick, that left a crater in the ground and threw up a lot of dust. "As should be expected from the Uzumaki genius." The attacker said. "You almost got me there, Lee. What brings you here?" "Dynamic Entoree!" Another voice yelled from next to Naruto. Unprepared for what came now, Naruto was hit by a kick to the face, sending him reeling. "Ugh, looks like Gai is here to..." Naruto said as he got up. Both spandex wearing men started laughing. "That certainly is a weird outfit, that it is..." Kenshin whispered. "No kidding, did they lose a bet or something?" Sano whispered back. "Hey, Gai, could you do me a favour? I just got back from escorting these people and they are wanted in Kakashi's office, so I was wondering if you could bring them? I would do it but euhm... I don't want my training to fall behind." Naruto said. Gai gasped "The springtime of youth can't fall back on it's training! I will escort them there right now! You go continue with your training! Lee, grab a hold of that samurai!" Gai picked Sanosuke up and ran towards the hokage's office. Lee nodded, picked up Kenshin and started running after his sensei. As soon as they were out of sight, Sakura started laughing "Training, huh? We both know that your training doesn't even take up any of your free time." Shikamaru commented. Naruto waved him off "Hey, I got our mission done earlier, right?" "Yea well, I gotta get going, my father is arriving in town today." Shikamaru said as he started walking away. "That leaves just you and me, huh Naruto?" Sakura asked. She noticed he had already dissapeared. "I hate it when he does that!"

"That's not an easy task, how are we going to get all of the people that hate Naruto too go see the tournament?" Genma asked. "Very simple, I have requested the Kazekage to send one of his strongest ninja's over. We will leave out the fact that Naruto will be fighting, and sign me up." Tsunade replied. Genma nodded "That will certainly lure everyone in the village, but how will we keep them there? They will probably leave as soon as Naruto's first fight comes up." "Just leave that to me." Tsunade winked.

Naruto and Sai were enjoying a cup of sake in the afternoon sun, on top of Naruto's appartment roof. Naruto was deepening himself in one of Jiraiya's new books, while Sai was writing some art. "Four and a half years of training and living with Jiraiya turned you into a pervert, Naruto..." Sai said without looking up from his art. Naruto grinned "It's not like I'll ever have a girl, with that kitsune inside of me." "It's not his fault your not attractive." Sai joked. "Hey you two! Get your asses down here, it's dinner time! And Uzumaki Naruto, put that book away!" Sakura yelled from out of her bedroom window. "That woman has a sixth sense about these things." Naruto said as they walked down the side of the building. They jumped into the building through Sakura's window and walked into the main room.

Naruto patted his stomach in satisfaction as Sai stretched his arms, and Sakura was stuck doing the dishes. "Hey Naruto, how'd you get Sakura to make dinner for three AND wash the dishes?" Sai whispered. "I made a deal with her, I learn her some of my techniques and she makes food and does the dishes for a week... That and I have to learn medical ninjutsu from her, it's not like it can be that hard." Naruto whispered back resulting in a grin from Sai. "Well, I think I should get going, I'm stuck living with Yamato, and he acts like he's my father..." Sai mumbled as he made his way to the door. Naruto took a sheet of paper and wrote what to teach Sakura tomorrow.

---

Oh dear god this chapter took long. Now I gotta go faint somewhere, excuse me.


	6. Chapter 6: Kyuubi awakens

Night had dawned in Root and almost everyone had fallen asleep. Naruto was laying on the roof of his appartment again, staring at the stars. He sighed as he looked down into the streets, once in a while seeing an ANBU rush through the streets. "Excuse me sir, but there's a law in Root stating that no civilians or ninja below the rank of jounin can be out after midnight." An ANBU said from behind Naruto. Naruto didn't respond, instead he poured in some sake and took a sip. "I'm not going to warn you again, genin!" the man said with hostility in his voice as he took a kunai. "You must be new." Naruto said as he turned his head towards the man. Naruto's sentence took the man by suprise "How do you know that?" "Well, because if you weren't new, you would've either left me alone or you would've tried to stab that kunai into me already." Naruto said calmly. "But still, rules are rules and we have to o--" "That rule was made so that civilians or weaker ninja's wouldn't run into an assasin or missing-nin with nobody to save them." Naruto said before the man could finish. "And I suppose your not one of the weaker ninja's, **genin**?" The man asked with a mocking tone in his voice. That was the last straw for Naruto. He got up and took a taijutsu stance. The man drew another kunai and took his stance. The man was about to charge when two gloved hand grabbed his wrists and forced him to drop the kunai's. "Naruto-sama! Please forgive my collega, he is new and foolish." The new arrival said. Naruto nodded and went back to drinking while the two ANBU dissapeared.

"Why'd you do that? I was just going to teach him a lesson!" The first ANBU, who wore a mask with a drawing that looked like a catface said. "You fool, Naruto would've cut you into pieces on his worst day!" His superior, who wore a mask with a drawing that looked like a dogface shot back. "Your joking right? He's just a genin for crying out loud!" Catface yelled. Dog took a map and started going from page to page until he came against Naruto's file. He showed it to Cat who was stunned.

**Name: Uzumaki Naruto**

**Rank: Genin**

**D-missions completed : 149**

**C-missions completed : 117**

**B-missions completed : 96**

**A-missions completed : 173**

**S-missions completed : 27**

"How is that possible? Genins, even in large groups, would die during a B-mission, let alone S-missions..." Cat said, trying to recover from his shock. "He was alone for most of those missions. And he's only been a ninja for 6 years, for 4 of them he wasn't even around." Dog said casually. Cat's eyes widened in shock "Just who is this guy?" "The sannin Jiraiya's succesor, and the person with the biggest chance of becoming the sixth hokage, even though he doesn't know that. Now, we have rounds to continue." Dog said as they both dissapeared into the night.

Naruto stood in front of a giant gate, silently staring at the black shadow behind it. Naruto ripped one of the many tags hanging on the gate "Hello Kyuubi, how have you been the past year?" **"Has it already been a year since that bastard Jiraiya completely sealed me off from you? Why'd you break the tag? Miss my company?" **The demon replied. Naruto chuckled. "Not really, but I do want to know some things. Like why people fear you so much? I've been dragging you along for 18 years, and your not really that bad..." **"Well kid, your species hates and fears what they don't understand. They hated me because they were unable to grasp how it was possible for a giant fox to be so strong, or even exist." **"But why did you attack Konoha?" **"You clearly haven't heard the true story. I always lived near Konoha, even before it was formed. But one night, some ninja from your village were sent to destroy me. They created an avalance that threw giant boulders into my hole, hoping to trap me." **"But, why did they suddenly attack you?" **"They always tried to get me to fight for them, and when I said no and knocked the messenger away, who survived with a small concussion, the council decided it would be best to destroy me, against the will of the third and fourth hokage." **Naruto grew silent. "Kyuubi, why do people hate me?" **"Because they are foolish creatures who think you are me, and therefore hate you for what I did."** "I guess I should get used to being alone. Sure, I have friends, but who would want me as their husband?" **"You honestly don't have a clue, do you? Why do you think Tsunade sent you here? Most people here have accepted you as a great ninja or don't know about me."** "Thanks Kyuubi, I feel a lot better now... Wanna make a deal?" **"Now your talking my language kid. What kind of deal did you have in mind?" **"First, you only help me with your rapid healing when there's a chance I might die. Second, you help me out with my training. In return I won't reattach this tag, and I might remove some more tags later." **"Ya got yourself a deal, kiddo."** Naruto grinned but soon his grin dissapeared and was replaced by a sad look. "Kyuubi, I'm destined to be alone forever, arn't I?" **"... I don't know kid, only time can tell."**

Naruto jumped up. He always hated getting thrown out of his mind, but he suspected Kyuubi to have something to do with it. He looked to see the sun rising. Had he really been talking to Kyuubi that long? He casually jumped from the roof and landed on the ground without making a sound. Naruto watched a clock that was hanging against the appartment complex, 5:59, all hell was about to break lose. As by magic, cursing and shouts could be heard from Naruto's appartment when the clock struck 6:00. "Looks like Sakura is up..." Naruto mumbled as he walked into the appartment.

Naruto was sitting at the kitchen table, watching Sakura demonstrate her healing by getting rid of the bruises she inflicted on Naruto. "Why'd you have to go on a punching spree like that? I wasn't reading Jiraiya's novels..." Naruto muttered. Sakura sighed "I said I was sorry... Getting the hang of this yet?" Naruto let a green glow surround his hand before speaking "Yea, I just need some practice." "Great, now you learn me your Kage bushin!" Naruto sighed as he made a single clone before making to the door. "He will teach you." Naruto said before closing the door behind him. Sakura cursed Naruto in seven different languages before listening to the clone.

Naruto walked until he reached a farm a minute or five out of Root. He knocked on the front door and was greeted by Kenshin. "Oro? Hi Naruto, didn't expect to see you again so soon." Kenshin said as he lead Naruto into the living room. "I was curious to know why a samurai would suddenly change his ways and become a farmer so suddenly?" "Well, I always wanted to become a farmer, like my parents were. But they were killed and I was forced to become a samurai to live." Kenshin said as he poured in some tea for the both of them. A sound from the kitchen alarmed them both. Seconds later, Sanosuke walked into the living room "Hey Kenshin, the front door was locked, so I came in through the window." Sano said as he scanned the house. When his eyes fell on Naruto, he got a wide grin on his face. "Came to get your rematch?" Sano asked as he cracked his knuckles. "No fighting in or around my farm!" Kenshin yelled as Sano got ready to fight. Sano cursed under his breath and plopped down on a nearby couch. They talked for hours, until Naruto felt the clone that was teaching Sakura was dispelled, which meant he had to hurry back or face Sakura's wrath again.

Naruto had made a small detour, and ended up at a lake. After a quick swim, he was drying his clothes above a small campfire, when sleep consumed him. When he woke up, he saw three figures towering over him, each with an evil smile on their face. Naruto tried to jump up, but found himself chained and gagged. He looked up, trying to identify his assaulters, but the trees blocked the sunlight, and made it hard for Naruto to see their faces. They finally stepped into the light and Naruto's eyes widened.

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DUMDUMDUM!!! I love cliffhangers.

Also the next chapter will feature : Looooong fight and lots of new techniques from Naruto's side! Tune in next time, same narutime, same naruchannel!


	7. Chapter 7: A tournament?

Naruto's eyes widened. Standing in front of him were Temari, Gaara and Kankuro. "Your slipping, Naruto." Gaara said in a playful tone. Naruto took a deep breath and broke the chains by expelling chakra around them. Getting up and spitting the gag out he looked confused "Why are you here, Gaara?" "Clueless as always, arn't you? I'm here to participate in the tournament in Root." Gaara said. "You know, the one that starts in five minutes?" Naruto's eyes widened as he ran towards Root.

Naruto entered the stadium cursing. He was just late two minutes and they wouldn't let him enter the competition! "Ladies and gentlemen thank you for coming. Out of everybody that has signed up, the hokage has requested me to pick two contestants to fight. The other two spots will be filled up by the hokage and the kazekage. Those contestants are Sagara Sanosuke and Hatake Kakashi." Genma said. Naruto's eyes widened. '_Sagara Sanosuke? But he doesn't have any jutsu's to fall back on!' _"First fight will be Gaara vs Kakashi." Genma continued as both stepped into the ring. The ring was an exact duplicate of the one for the tournament during the chuunin exam, giving Gaara the advantage. "Begin." Genma said as he ran out of the ring.

Gaara instantly sent a tidal wave of sand after Kakashi, who jumped over it as he charged a Chidori. Uncovering his Charingan eye he charged at Gaara. "Attack from the front? How foolish." Gaara sent as sand shot up from the ground and surrounded Kakashi. It took Gaara a second to find out that he had caught a log. A small laugh erupted from behind Gaara merely seconds before a palm thrusted through his shoulder. Gaara melted into a puddle of sand and shot back up on the other side of the arena. _'That was a bushin?'_ Kakashi thought. Sand shot up from all the sides of the arena and charged at Kakashi. Thinking of his possibilities, Kakashi ran through some handseals. "Sand dragon jutsu!" Kakashi exclaimed as a dragon of sand shot up and stopped all the sand. Gaara went through the same handseals and a new dragon shot up, twice in size of Kakashi's. The giant dragon cut through his smaller brother with ease. Kakashi looked over to Gaara "If I could just get into taijutsu range..." He mumbled as he once again went through his list of jutsu's. He suddenly got an idea as he took a kunai and rushed at Gaara. The dragon raced after Kakashi, having trouble to keep up. Gaara looked at Kakashi confused. Merely seconds before the dragon hit Gaara and Kakashi reached Gaara, he jumped up, sending the dragon into a crash with his master. Luckily for Gaara, the dragon was dispelled seconds before it impaled him. A kunai was hanging against Gaara's throat when the smoke cleared. "It's over." Kakashi said calmly. Gaara just grinned as he turned into sand and rooted Kakashi to the spot. "Winner : Gaara of the sand."

Sanosuke was stunned. He was supposed to fight that!? Naruto stood down next to Sano "Let me give you some hints..." Naruto said, looking around to see if they were alone.

"Next match, Tsunade vs Sagara Sanosuke." Genma said from his hiding place. Tsunade jumped from her seat and walked into the arena while Sano had his doubts before going into the arena. "Are you sure you wanna fight me, boy?" Tsunade said in a mocking tone. "Are you sure you don't need a pacemaker, old hag?" Sano said as he shot her a venomous look. Tsunade charged at Sano, barely leaving him time to block the blow with his arms. Tsunade wasn't leaving it with that though, throwing another punch under his guard. The punch his Sano square in the face, sending him flying across the arena. During his flight, Sano ran through some handseals before saying "Kaze no Yaiba." A whirlwind surrounded Tsunade, closing in on her and cutting everything in it's path. Tsunade jumped over the whirlwind, trying to recover from her confusion. She was facing a man that had never been learned in chakra, yet just used a technique that could kill jounins. "Tajuu kage bushin." A calm voice echo'd through the air. Tsunade saw Sano jump up after her, followed by hundreds of clones. One of the clones kicked her in the stomach, breaking her guard. "Nisen Rendan." the clones said together, hitting Tsunade for at least two thousand times, the final blow sending her into a crash with the ground. Tsunade crawled out of the small crater she had left, still coughing up some blood. Tsunade quickly healed her lungs and charged after Sano as he landed back on the ground. Kicking him in the gut, she sent him reeling into one of the arena walls.

The crowd was completely silent, the fight they witnessed was breath taking. Somebody who they had never seen yet was fighting the hokage, and actually doing some damage on her! Sano stood up, blood trickling from his arm, but other then that he was unhurt. "Are you going to keep holding back, or are you going to fight me seriously?" Sano mumbled. _'What is he blabbing about? I used all my strength in that last kick.'_ she muttered under her breath. "I heard about you from Naruto." Tsunade sent Naruto her 'I am going to kill you in your sleep' look "Either he overestimated you, or your holding back." Sano said as he charged forward. Tsunade clutched her fist and sent her fist forward, hoping to catch him of guard. In response, Sano sent his fist into collision with Tsunade's. Bones could be heard snapping acros the stadium, followed by painful cries. Sano jumped back with a broken left hand, and Tsunade with a broken right hand. Their arms fell next to their bodies. "Do you two need medical nins to take care of those injuries?" Genma asked. Sano shook his head. "Doton! Yomi Numa!" Sano yelled not even leaving Tsunade the time to answer. A vast swamp appeared under Tsunade, slowly dragging her under. "The swamp will be up to your head in two minutes, you have until then to come out or forfeit." Sano said as he took a look at his arm.

Eyes in the crowd widened. He had Tsunade stuck, and their was no way in the nearest future for her to get out. This fight was as good as over, whoever this fighter was, everybody in the crowd started to get more and more respect for him.

**time : 17 seconds.**

Tsunade cursed like she wanted the entire world to know. She still couldn't grasp how that guy was able to learn both Doton AND Fuuton jutsu's, and without even going to the academy. _'That guy is either a genius, or he's not telling the truth...'_ She thought as she tried to preform a kuchiyose. All it did was hurt her hand more. She continued her cursing as she tried some other ideas.

**time : 32 seconds.**

Not a sound was made in the stadium, just the bubbling from the swamp as Tsunade sunk deeper. Sano was busy spalking his hand with some twigs, when Tsunade called him over. They spoke for a while until Sano went back to leaning against a tree with a smirk on his face.

**time : 57 seconds.**

By now, people were screaming for Tsunade to give up or for Sano to let her go. Genma was sitting next to the swamp, trying to convince Tsunade to give up.

**time : 1 minute 36 seconds.**

Tsunade opened her mouth to speak : "You can drop the act now, the real Sagara Sanosuke doesn't know any jutsu's." Tsunade said calmly. Sano started laughing as the swamp spit Tsunade out "I think i'll pass, people would hate me if they knew who I was." "That's not true, we would see you as the great warrior you are no matter who you are!" Some of the responses sounded. Sano sighed "If you insist." he said calmly as a cloud of smoke surrounded him, making everyone unable to see him.

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Cliffhangers for everyone! Alright, so maybe I didn't make it a really long fight, but at least you saw some jutsu's, even though they were used by an imposter. Buuuuut if you think about it you might find out who it is :p


	8. Chapter 8: Yep, an average day

To everyone who is reading without reviewing, you will be thrown into the dark endless abyss, to live a life of boredom! Please read and review.

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Everyone in the stadium held his or her breath as they waited for the smoke to clear. When the smoke cleared, Naruto was finally noticed, to which different kind of comments were given. "That should be expected from Naruto-sama!" "That punk tried to assasinate Hokage-sama!" "Naruto-dono let me give birth to your children!" Basically, the Root population made some cheers while the Naruto haters still accused him of all their problems. Naruto dispelled his clone in the audiance and walked out of the stadium. "It was a good idea, Tsunade. But some people just can't be changed..." He said as he left the arena.

Naruto was drinking sake like there was no tomorrow in the ramen stand next to his apartment. "If you keep that up you'll be leaving on a stretcher." The cook said. Naruto dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "What's the matter kid? Usually your so cheerful, or hungry, depending on the time of day." "Let's just say I found out no matter what I do, I can't make anybody from Konoha stop hating me." Naruto said. "Look kid, your a great person, and everyone who sees you as their enemy should meet their end. Now don't go on a killing spree like the last person I said that to." "I guess I should go home before I get drunk and do things I'll regret later." Naruto said as he dropped some money on the table and made his way to his apartment.

Naruto got into his apartment fairly easily, except that it took him ten minutes to open the front door. When he came in, he saw Sakura and her parents talking. _'Great, I'm drunk and the guy that thinks i'm a bad influence to her daughter is here...'_ Naruto thought. Naruto walked up to the nearest seat and plopped in it. "What's the matter with you? Are you drunk?" Hattori asked. "I'll be fffine, it's just the bloodloss." Naruto said as he looked at his hand. "Euhm Sakura, a little help?" Naruto asked as he remembered he had a broken hand. After the resetting of the bone, Sakura took a look at Naruto's ribs and other body parts. One time Hattori could have sworn she touched his crotch, even though she was looking at his knee. "You really are foolish Naruto, going fist to fist with Tsunade." "Hey, I won didn't I?" Naruto said with a goofy smile on his face. Sakura rolled her eyes at him before dragging him to the door of his bedroom. "Now your going to get a good night of sleep!" She said as she pushed him into his bedroom and closed the door.

Sakura sat down at the table with her parents. "Sorry about that, where were we?" Sakura asked as she sat down. "We want you to move out of this apartment. What if that thing has been molesting you during your sleep?" Hattori asked. "You've been saying stuff like that for six years, and nothing happened to me, even on the rare occasion we were forced to share a bed." They never shared a bed, but her father had to be thought a lesson. Naruto, who was listening from the other side of the door, had to hold back a laugh, his first of the day. Hattori was mad and Kaoru just smiled. Kaoru thought Naruto and Sakura would make a great couple, if it wasn't for her stubborn husband. Hattori wanted to kill that punk, he had shared a bed with his daughter!? "But--" "But nothing, I'm an adult and if I want to I'll go into his room, strip and make him the luckiest man in the darn world!" **_'I kinda like that idea'_** kyuubi said. Hattori was stunned, Naruto was touched and Kaoru was giggling. "But he's a demon!" "Your wrong father, he is Uzumaki Naruto! He is the strongest ninja in Root and Konoha and the person who saved us from Kyuubi!" **_'I was holding back...'_** Kyuubi muttered. At this point Naruto was crying. Nobody had ever stood up for him like that, especially not against their own parents. "Get out." Sakura stated firmly. "Wha-what?" Hattori asked. "I said get out! Until you accept Naruto as the person he is, I have nothing more to say to you. Your still welcome mother." Sakura said as she opened the door. At this point Naruto went to his bed and fell asleep, tears of happyness still enprinted on his face.

Naruto woke up early in the morning, he felt like repaying Sakura for standing up for him. After telling the kyuubi to stop suggesting 'go to bed with her' he decided to make her breakfast. Who would've thought baking an egg was so difficult? After the occasional 'Warks' he came upon a normal egg. After a long kitchen struggle, he had made the perfect breakfast for Sakura... And a sandwich for him. Sakura emerged from her bedroom and cocked an eyebrow as she saw her breakfast. "What did you do this time?" She asked, not trusting it. "I overheard your conversation with your father yesterday..." _'He heard that? That was supposed to be kept a secret!'_ Sakura thought, panicking. She looked over to Naruto and saw tears pouring out of his eyes. "Sakura, thank you." He said as he burst out in tears. Sakura sat on his lap and let him rest his head on her shoulder. _'He's so fragile, he's not used to somebody going out of his way more then Iruka did to help him.'_ After Naruto stopped crying, the two stared at eachother for the longest time. Sakura let her hands rest on Naruto's cheeks, wiping the tears away with her thumbs. A knock on the door interrupted their stare. "It's open." Sakura said. Tsunade poked her head in through the door. "Hi, I just want to speak to Naru--- Oh my, am I coming at a bad time?" Tsunade asked, colour rising to her cheeks. Realising what the position they were in looked like, both Naruto and Sakura jumped up. "Euhm, Nevermind, I'll come back later." Tsunade said closing the door. Once outside she looked up at the sky "Maybe I won't have to give him a hand with his lovelife after all." She whispered.

Naruto made his ways through the halls of the academy, until he stumbled across the room he was looking for, Iruka's class. "Children, today I have asked one of my ex-students to come and visit us. Naruto could you come in please?" Iruka asked. Naruto walked into the classroom and smirked to himself when he heard the gasps. "Hello everyone, pleased to meet you." Naruto said in an upbeat tone. "Now, who has a question for Naruto?" Iruka asked as Naruto made his way to the front of the class. A girl in the front row raised her hand. "Excuse me, Naruto-dono? Is there any chance that you might give us pointers after class?" She asked a little embarresed. "I'll tell you what, I'll be here every day from 5 PM to 6 PM to help with training and give pointers, how does that sound?" Naruto asked. Everyone nodded happily and somebody else raised his hand. "Could you tell us a bit about yourself?" Came the question. Naruto winced before taking a deep breath. "Well, I was always the worst student in my class..." "You can say that again..." Iruka mumbled. "And I had failed the exam three times, never being able to create a useful bushin. One night however I got my hands on a scroll that taught me the 'Kage bushin'. It's been my favourite move ever since, and my ticket to being a genin." "Which you still are..." Iruka mumbled again. Another hand shot up "Is Sakura your giiiiirlfriend?" The boy asked in a teasing tone. Naruto's face turned into seven colours of red. "Well euhm you see euhm well euhm... I have no idea actually." Naruto said as he poured some thought into it. Everyone in the class erupted in laughter, including Iruka.

Naruto and Iruka were sitting in a ramen stand, talking and enjoying a cup of ramen. "So, what really is the deal with you and Sakura?" Iruka asked, making Naruto spit out some noodles. "What do you mean?" Naruto asked. "Everyone here and in Konoha heard about Tsunade catching you during an 'intimate' moment." Iruka said with a smirk. Naruto's face turned bright red "It wasn't like that!" "Suuure." Naruto shoved one of his empty plates into Iruka's face. "If that rumour spread like you said it did, I'm feeling sorry for Sakura."

"How dare you go to bed with that thing!" Hattori yelled as he bursted into Naruto's appartment. Sakura just ignored him and continued cleaning. Naruto chose a bad time to enter the apartment. Just as he walked in he could see Hattori reel his arm back to slap Sakura. Naruto grabbed both of Hattori's arms. **"If you ever even try to hurt her, I will torture you until your begging for death."** Naruto said in a deep voice. Naruto let Hattori go and walked over to Sakura "Are you alright?" He asked, concern filling his eyes. Sakura nodded and gave Naruto a little peck on the lips, just to add to Hattori's defeat. Naruto was stunned. Did Sakura just kiss him? Sakura, the girl he has been in love with for over years? Words could not describe how great Naruto felt. He turned towards Hattori "The lady said she doesn't want to talk to you..." He said as he grabbed Hattori and threw him out of the apartment.

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I demand a vacation!


	9. Chapter 9: Dinner for four

Ladies and gentlemen I present to you, chapter nine!

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_**Two month timeskip!**_

Naruto was sitting in front of Kyuubi's cage. **"Why didn't you go for it!? That girl would've let you sleep with her, or even more if you had taken the chance!" **"You havn't even had a girl in over 18 years, what do you know about dating?" **"Got me there... Humans are so strange, your race needs you to make children and now you have to be picky?" **"This is coming from a giant fox? Why am I not suprised? Let me explain it to you. Humans want to 'mate' with some---" **"Yes, yes I know your stupid instincts. I also know about your 'one night stands' as your kind calls it."** "She's my roommate! I would never get away with that... Not that I want to do it... Now, you said something about a birthdaygift?" Naruto asked impatiently. Naruto suddenly felt a stinging sensation on his skin, in his ears, eyes, mouth and nose. **"Happy birthday, kid. I heightened all of your senses." **Kyuubi said as soon as the pain dissapeared. Naruto was woken up by a smell he knew well.

Naruto's eyes fluttered open and saw Sakura staring at him. He jumped up from shock, falling next to the bed on his way down. "Happy birthday!" She said cheerful. Naruto rubbed the bump on his head as he looked at Sakura's hands. In them was a colourful wrapped present. She presented Naruto with the gift, which he greedily took. He unwrapped the gift and saw a katana, the blade made only out of titanium and the hilt and sheath were plated with gold. When Naruto recovered from his shock, he tackle-hugged Sakura.

After deciding where to hang it, Naruto let it hang on his back so he could easily draw it. After breakfast, Naruto pressed one of the tiles on the wall and an Iris scanner popped out. Letting it scan his eye, a vault popped up. After pressing a code, he opened it to reveal the akatsuki ring that used to belong to Orochimaru. He did it on his left little finger. Giving Sakura a quick kiss on the lips he walked out of the apartment and into the busy streets of Root.

Naruto was on top of the world, not only had he been selected to hunt Akatsuki, he and Sakura were a couple, and he was building his own house! When he arrived at the workplace near the centre of town, he checked on all his clones who were working on the house non stop before going to the hospital. After healing the life threatening wounds, he went for a walk around town. "Dynamic Entoree!" As by instinct, Naruto jumped back... Wait a minute, Gai and Lee were out of town, so that would mean... Naruto quickly jumped up, avoiding a kick aimed for his back. "Damn it, why do you keep doing that!?" Naruto landed next to his assaulter. The man had black spiky that sticks up and green eyes. He was taller then Naruto and kind of skinny with muscles, but not big muscles. He wore brown open finger gauntlets, brown sandals, a red short sleeved short and pants that were tan. "Your slipping, Naruto." The bigger man said. "Well Kirbie, the bigger they are..." "The more ass they kick." Kirbie interupted, towering over the short Naruto. "Yea yea, just don't forget that your gonna be stuck with me during the chuunin exam, and those are hell without good teamwork." "You still can't appreciate a good joke, do you? Well, I gotta run, catch ya later fox boy." Kirbie said as he dropped a smokebomb. Naruto cursed under his breath before walking off.

Two figures were standing in an unlighted room "Have you found it yet?" "It seems that it is in possesion of Uzumaki Naruto, and he is going to participate in the chuunin exam in Konoha." "Uzumaki Naruto, huh? Send group , we'll get two birds with one stone, and do something about this blasted lightbulb, I can't see anything in here!"

Another hideout, also badly lightened "You found it? Good, send four man to get it!"

Naruto was enjoying a nice cup of sake with one of Jiraiya's books on the roof of his apartment when a chill went down his spine. Seconds later he was tackled by Sakura. "Are you not getting enough from me that you have to fall back to Jiraiya's books?" She asked. "Last time I checked, I didn't get any of this from you." Naruto said as he handed her the book. Sakura started reading and after each word her face turned redder and redder. "Fine, read your darn books, but don't expect any of that from me for at least a year or ten." Sakura said as she walked down the side of the building, leavin Naruto to pout.

Naruto hated this, Sakura's parents were coming to visit, and her father still hates Naruto, this would be a long evening... When Sakura's parents came, the mood seemed to go into freezing. Naruto had forgotten to put the akatsuki ring away, which made Hattori ask some annoying questions. When Kaoru asked when she was getting grandchildren, both Sakura and Naruto spit their drink into her face. "C-children? But we're not even thinking about getting married yet!" Naruto said. "So you stole my daughter's virginity and now you don't intend to marry her!?" Hattori yelled. "I didn't steal any virginities!" "He didn't steal my virginity!" "So you didn't do anything?" Hattori asked. **_'I wish' _**"No..." Naruto answered, trying to shut out the kyuubi's thoughts. This went on for half an hour, until Sakura saved the day by serving diner.

Naruto was trying to put the table manners Sakura had learned him to work, under the observing eye of Hattori. **_'Kiiiiiiiill him, but do it without eye witnesses. Then nobody will stand between you and your mate!'_** Naruto sighed mentally before continuing with diner. After diner Naruto took the plates and quickly did the dishes with a number of clones. Strange how much 'Kage Bushin' can help in your every day chores. Sakura couldn't grasp why her father couldn't be happy for her. Kaoru was trying to talk some sense into her husband, telling him that Sakura has the right to do what she wants. Hattori was saying that Naruto was no good for her, he was to dangerous! Naruto was thinking about the chuunin exam, being a chuunin sounded fun, but would it be easy? A knock on the front door pulled everyone out of their train of thoughts.

Naruto opened the door and got a grin on his face. "Hey Gaara, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he let the Kazekage and his siblings into the apartment. "Gaara dragged us all the way out here for your birthday..." Temari said as she looked around the room. Hattori and Kaoru were stunned, the Kazekage came all the way out here JUST for Naruto's birthday? "Ya know Temari... Shikamaru lives in apartment two..." Naruto said. Temari quickly ran out of the building before Gaara could say anything. Kankurou quickly ran out of the room, wanting to go exploring himself. Gaara noticed Naruto's guests. "Hello, I'm known as Gaara of the sand, and who might you be?" He said in a creepy tone. "They're my parents, Gaara... And they were just leaving." Sakura said as she helped her parents out of their seats and walked them home.

Naruto and Gaara were swapping stories when Sakura walked back in. She found it hard to believe how much Gaara had been changed by Naruto. "So Naruto, have the Akatsuki tried to get you yet?" Gaara asked. "I don't think they'll try to get me while i'm in a city like Root, but I'm sure they'll try something at the chuunin exam." Naruto said. Sakura grimaced, she had almost forgotten about Akatsuki and their goal. But she knew somebody who could beat some of the members. She walked to the door. "I have to go somewhere, I'll be back soon." "Alright, be safe." Gaara simply waved. "What was her hurry?" Gaara asked when Sakura had left. Naruto shrugged and changed the subject.

Sakura ran through the dark streets like her life depended on it, she knew who in this village had largest chance to help Naruto. As she stopped before a small house she took a deep breath before knocking on the door. Would he help her? Would he want to help his rival? She knocked even harder. He had to help! The door opened. "Long time no see Sasuke."

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DUMDUMDUM... I gotta stop making cliffhangers.

Kirbie is copyrighted by well... Kirbie. (does your char even have a last name?)

Next chapter : The chuunin exams and confrontations under the trees!


	10. Chapter 10: Chuunin Exam

Double digits, booya!

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"Sakura? What brings you here?" Sasuke asked as he moved away from the door, letting his ex-teammate enter. Tears silently flowed down her face. "Sakura? What's wrong?" Sasuke asked when he saw her crying. "Naruto... Naruto is going to the chuunin exam and he thinks that..." Sakura paused as she sniffed a number of times "He thinks that Akatsuki might try to catch him during the exam..." "That idiot, he's still putting everyone before him." Sasuke muttered. "What do you mean?" "If they would attack during the exam, they would do it during the forest of death, which would mean that the most mumber of people to get involved is Naruto's team..." Sasuke explain when he had lead Sakura into a chair. "Please Sasuke! I'm afraid he might be killed! I'm not strong enough to stand by his side... But you are. Please go with him!" She begged him, fresh tears flowing over her face. Sasuke sighed, something told him Itachi was going to be there, so he might get his chance to take revenge. Sasuke slowly nodded his head. Sakura wiped her tears away "Thank you, Sasuke."

Naruto was working on the house the next morning. Due to the extreme heat, Naruto and his clones had discarded their shirts, leaving their naked upper bodies to see for everyone passing the construction site. This of course attracted a lot of female attention to the blonde. When two arms wrapped around his chest he had enough of it. He swung around and felt a pair of lips touch his. He focused his eyes and found that the person kissing him was Sakura. "And where did you run off to yesterday?" "Euhm well I went to the hospital..." Sakura said nervously. Naruto sniffed the air around her a number of times. "Sure smells like it." Naruto teased her as he went back to work. "So when is **OUR** house going to be ready?" Sakura said. All the clones stopped work for a moment before all taking out a copy of the blueprint. "Euhm, well you see... I didn't think you would move into the house with me." Sakura blinked a couple of times. "Why not?" "Your parents, mainly your father... He would try to kill me again if he knew." "Nobody is going to stop me from moving in with you." Sakura said as she snatched one of the blueprints. "I'll just sleep in one of your guest rooms. Now, when is it gonna be done?" Sakura asked, jumping up and down like a kid in a candy store. Naruto discussed with his clones for a minute. "We could have it done by the end of the day, but then we still need to furnish it." Naruto said. Sakura got an evil smile on her face as she rolled the blueprint up. "Leave that to me." She said as she snatched Naruto's wallet and walked towards the nearest furnisture store.

Naruto looked satisfied. His house was finished! He had planted some cherry blossoms in the front yard, and his clones were working on a fence that goes around the property, having a single gate at the front. He had also sent some clones to pick up the furniture that Sakura had most likely bought. He walked into the hall, seeing that his clones were busy painting the room. He walked through the house, awaiting the return of Sakura and his clones.

Sasuke stood in front of Kakashi, in his battle equipment. "Are you sure you want to go? I thought you quit being a ninja?" Kakashi asked. "And let one of the few chances to kill Itachi slip away? Keep dreaming." Sasuke said. "Fine, fine. The jounin that will be acting as your sensei is Sarutobi Asuma. You will leave in two days." Kakashi stated firmly. Sasuke nodded and left.

Naruto awoke in his new bedroom, it was bigger then the one in his apartment. It had a bookshelf in the far corner, next to it was a writing table with an open book. He opened his curtains and saw the southeast part of Root, also known as the slums. The smell of the dozens of flowers in his room made his nose ache. He walked into the corridor and admired one of the many paintings that adored the walls. _'How many did these cost?'_ Naruto thought as he examined the signature. _'Da Vinci? Probably some small town artist, cheap painting then.' _He mused as he walked down the stairs. A delicous smell lured him into the kitchen, while a nosebleed threw him back out. Standing there, cooking breakfast for two in white undergarments was Sakura! Now, that on itself wasn't the problem, but the fact that she had been sweating made the undergarments transparant. Naruto had to put both his hands on his nose to stop the bleeding. Sakura cocked an eyebrow "Naruto, what are you doing?" Naruto could only hysterically point at Sakura's undergarments. Sakura looked down and started blushing as she ran out of the room to change. Naruto quickly served breakfast while Kyuubi could only comment Naruto on his luck with Sakura.

The day of the exam had came fast, to fast for some. Naruto was sitting against the gate leading out of town, with Sakura leaning against his shoulder, her eyes red and puffy. Kirbie was doing sit ups at the other side of the gate. "Ready to go, you two?" A voice asked from above them. They all looked up to see Sasuke standing on top of the gate, staring into the forest. "Sasuke? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked when he recovered from his initial shock. "Kakashi thought it would be better to send me then a rookie. So two genins with the strength of jounins and an undercover ANBU going to war against the Akatsuki? This should be fun." Sasuke said as he jumped from the gate.

"So the jounins and chuunin examinators know what to do with us?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded. "Ibiki told us that, when given the chance, we have to leave his class. Anko has made it so that we will get one of each scroll and after the forest of death, everything will go fair." Naruto explained. "Even though a lot has changed in Konoha, they still have the same proctors for the chuunin exam, huh?" Sasuke pondered.

They met Asuma at the front gate and soon they found themselves split across a classroom with Ibiki in front of the class. Naruto looked around to see if he could distinguish somebody as Akatsuki, but they all looked fairly normal. "Begin!" Ibiki yelled. Naruto, Kirbie and Sasuke had no problem answering the questions, as they are things most jounins would know. "Now, it is time for the final question. If you decide to take it, and you fail, then your teammates will forever be stuck as genins." Ibiki said making people gasp. Naruto, Sasuke and Kirbie raised their hand at the same time. Ibiki nodded at all those that raised their hand and pointed at a door to his left. While walking through the hallway presumably leading to the forest of death, Naruto noted that about 17 teams were left, including his team. After Anko's rehearsed speech and the distribution they found themself in the forest of death. "Now what do we do?" Kirbie asked as he looked around. "We hunt the other participants, and when we find our targets, we kill." Naruto said as he jumped to a tree.

Another gate opened, opening for twenty ANBU and Asuma. "Don't attack until your sure they're our targets, split up and stay hidden!" Asuma yelled. The ANBU raced into the forest as the gate closed behind them. In a corner of the forest, two teams were standing across eachother. "Well, I never expected Orochimaru to send his lackeys to recover his ring." Kisame said as he pointed Samehada at Kabuto and his two allies. Deidera laughed "Let's just kill them and find the jinchuuriki already!" "Sloppy as always, Deidera." Itachi snorted. "Perhaps we should cover his body with explosion tags..." Kisame said as he put Samehada against Kabuto's neck. _'Crap, we can't take on the Akatsuki, we need a miracle.' _Kabuto thought. As sent by the gods themselves two figures appeared and slit the throats of Kabuto's allies. The two figures appeared behind Deidera and Itachi, but were easily overpowered by the two Akatsuki members. Kabuto wasn't going to let this pass fly by and hit Deidera on his heart. Deidera's ribs pierced his heart, and he died almost instantly. Kabuto tried the same thing with Itachi, but his hand was caught in mid air. "Well, that might've worked on Deidera, but he was careless." Itachi said as he caught Kabuto's other arm and put a foot against his chest. He ripped both of Kabuto's arms off and threw them away. Kabuto screamed in pain but was cut silent when Samehada pierced through his head. "Let's see Orochimaru bring you back now." Kisame said as he cut Kabuto into pieces. Itachi ripped the Akatsuki ring from Deidera's dead finger and wore it. "Now, I believe we have a meeting with a Jinchuuriki?" Itachi asked as they took to the trees.

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Next chapter : Meeting with Akatsuki! Sharingan VS Sharingan!


	11. Chapter 11: Sharingan vs Sharingan

Best quote in a long time : "There's is nothing more American then doing nothing and getting away with it."

I am opposed to long author's notes...

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Naruto felt like he was being watched. **_'Konoha's ANBU is losing it's touch'_** Kyuubi mumbled. Soon they came upon a halt when they saw a large group of ANBU standing across from the Akatsuki members Itachi and Kisame. "I want Itachi." Sasuke whispered. Naruto nodded "You two fight Itachi I'll handle Kisame." Naruto said as he drew his katana and jumped up. Kisame brought Samehada up right in time or Naruto would've cut through Kisame's head. Jumping back, he came face to face with Itachi. "Mangekyou sha---" "Mangekyou Sharingan!" Sasuke yelled as he came crashing down on Itachi. When the smoke from the impact cleared, all Sasuke found was a log. Itachi appeared behind him, with a kunai ready to hit Sasuke in his head. A quick kick was applied to Itachi's head by Kirbie, sending him flying into a nearby tree.

"Get out of here, you'll only get in the way!" Naruto yelled at the ANBU as he once again charged at Kisame. He jumped over Samehada and gave Kisame a slight cut across the chest. Naruto jumped back, avoiding another sweep from Samehada. Running through some handseals during his flight, he called out "Kamaitachi!" A large whirlwind trapped Kisame, deepening his wounds and making new ones. When the whirlwind dissapeared, Kisame fell to his knees and coughed up some blood. "Give me your ring and I might let you live." Naruto called out. Kisame got up and ran through some handseals. "Here's my answer! Suiton! Suikoudan no Jutsu!" Kisame said as water appeared out of the ground, going towards Naruto with dizzying speed. Naruto jumped over the attack and formed some handseals "Katon! Kasumi Enbu no Jutsu!" Naruto spat out a large amount of mist. "That's it? A little mist?" "No, this mist is flamable. Katon! Karyuu Endan!" Naruto said as he ran through another pair of handseals. Naruto spat out a ball of fire that made the mist surrounding Kisame explode. Naruto landed and waited for the smoke to clear. He walked up to Kisame's half-dead form and took his ring, before crushing his skull.

Itachi jumped over another one of Sasuke's sweep, in the meantime avoiding the jutsu's that Kirbie threw at him. Then the perfect oppurtunity arrived for Itachi to take Kirbie out. Itachi stepped on Sasuke's Kusanagi and used it to launch himself at Kirbie. Dodging a couple of fireblasts, Itachi grabbed Kirbie by his shoulders and locked eyes with him "Tsukuyomi!" Itachi said. Kirbie fell into a pile, living his worst nightmares in his head. Sasuke slashed at Itachi, who tried to block it with a kunai. The Kusanagi went clear through it and left a huge gash across Itachi's chest. Itachi retaliated by grabbing Sasuke's arm and forcing him to drop the blade. Sasuke kicked Itachi in the gut, making him release Sasuke's hand. Running through some handseals, Sasuke took a deep breath before muttering "Katon! Goukakyuu no jutsu." A huge fireball hit Itachi into the stomach forcing him back a number of feet. Looking at his scorched clothes, he cursed mentally for almost being done in by that type of jutsu. "That tickled..." Itachi mocked. Sasuke ran through another set of handseals and gathered chakra in his hand. "Chidori!" He cried as he ran at Itachi. Itachi merely dodged the attack and gave Sasuke a kick in his back. "Your taijutsu always was better then your jutsu using..." Itachi said as he ran through a number of handseals.

Suddenly Sasuke's enviroment seemed to melt around him, until only darkness remained. Sasuke started running, until he saw Naruto and Sakura conversing. "I never trusted Sasuke, I'm glad he went with Orochimaru!" Naruto said. "I agree, now I can stop pretending to like him and shoot my arrows at you." Sakura said with a wink. Sasuke turned away, he couldn't believe it, his friends would never say something like that about him, never! "Do you not remember why you left these weaklings?" Itachi's voice echoed across the area. "My quest for power to defeat you!" Sasuke yelled. "Exactly, and what made you return to them?" Sasuke froze. "Naruto's power..." Itachi started laughing as the area came back together. Itachi pointed to an area to the left to show Naruto on the ground, bleeding all over, about to get the finishing blow from Kisame. Sasuke fell to his knees. He couldn't believe it, did Naruto lie to him? Suddenly, genjutsu was destroyed and Sasuke was back in the real world and saw that Itachi was fighting Naruto. Sasuke tried to stand but found his legs to bail out on him, as he fell back on the ground. All he could do was watch the fight between his friend and the man he hates.

Naruto took a couple of kunai's and stabbed them in Itachi's right arm, rendering it useless. Dodging a clumsy swipe from a kunai, he applied pressure to Itachi's head, giving him one hell of a headache. By now, Itachi was completely disorientated, his sight was blurry, so he couldn't use mangekyou or any jutsu's. His good arm was lost, probably for good, so he was in a very bad position. Naruto helped Sasuke up and pointed at Itachi. "Now go and extract your long awaited revenge!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke quickly formed some seals and powered his Chidori. Putting the Chidori through Itachi's chest felt so good for Sasuke. He took out a kunai and slit Itachi's throat a couple of times, then started to stab his body a number of times, just to make sure he was dead. Naruto quietly took the rings Itachi wore and did them on. Naruto's eyes widened when two of the rings he had just looted dissapeared into thin air, together with Itachi's and Kisame's corpses. "They weren't the real ones..." Naruto muttered as he looked at the second ring that remained. "But then the owner of this one really died." He continued as he got up and brushed off. He swung Kirbie over his shoulder and made his way to the building in the middle of the forest, closely followed by Sasuke.

They were welcomed by Shikamaru "Your early, you can go take a rest over there." He said while pointing at a lounge in the corner of the building. "How'd it go with Akatsuki?" Shikamaru asked. "Itachi and Kisame were using a jutsu to make a reallife copy, but the other Akatsuki that came into the forest with them is dead." Sasuke said calmly. "Kabuto and two of his henchmen were in the exam to, and they were found dead together with Deidera." Shikamaru said. "So, the two groups after these rings killed eachother? Ironic, isn't it?" Naruto asked as he tried to wake Kirbie up. "I was also told that if you managed to get out of the fight with Akatsuki alive, you and Sasuke would both be promoted to chuunin." Shikamaru continued. Naruto got a cheeky grin on his face while Sasuke didn't seem to care. "So we don't have to continue with the exam?" Sasuke asked. "Don't have to? We can't let you, you'd wipe out all potential chuunins!" Shikamaru said with a grin. "Well then we'd better get back to root." Naruto said as he swung Kirbie over his shoulder again.

"Sasuke, can't you take him over? This guy weighs a ton!" Naruto complained. "Your the team leader, you gotta watch after us members..." Sasuke said. "Yea, now I'm the teamleader..." "Uuuugh, i'm telling you officer, she said she was eightteen!" Kirbie mumbled. "Sick psycho..." Sasuke mumbled. Naruto banged Kirbie's head against a nearby tree. Kirbie cried out in pain. "About time you woke up." Naruto said as he dropped Kirbie and continued walking. Kirbie looked around "What did I miss?"

Naruto walked through the gates of Root and almost instantly ran towards his house, leaving Sasuke and Kirbie at the gate. Naruto did a henge and knocked on the front door to his house. _'This is gonna be so fun!'_ **_'Your more evil then me...'_** Naruto took his katana off and held it in front of him. As a last touch to the masterpiece, he sprayed some red sauce over the weapon. Sakura opened the door. "Miss Haruno?" Naruto asked. Sakura nodded "For now, yes." Naruto's eye twitched slightly at that comment, he knew darn well what it meant. "The roommate and girlfriend of Mister Uzumaki?" He asked. Sakura nodded once again. "I have some sad news for you..." Naruto said as he held the katana in Sakura's sight. Sakura stared at the katana in disbelief. "It can't be..." She whispered. Naruto dispelled the Henge "My katana got a little dirty..." He said with a cheeky grin. Sakura started crying and tackle-hugged Naruto. She hit his chest softly while crying. "You bastard, you worried me." "I worried you? What about you with your 'Miss for now'?" Naruto asked. Sakura blushed when she realised what she had said.

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	12. Chapter 12: Training for the exam

Death to the bad OC's! (this includes all Uchiha's that survived the massacre without explanation and dissapeared for 15+ years)

I would also express my thanks to one of the most loyal reviewers I have ever seen, Kane-the-Warrior! Happy Turkey day to you too! And because of his loyalness to my story, I'll reveal a secret... I have already written 26 chapters for this story, but I'm going to release them in small jumps of time. For one : It will help me make time to get through my writer's block, and second... I just like to annoy people. Ok, maybe you didn't want to know that... Meh. Happy readin'!

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That evening, in the Uzumaki residence.

Sakura stared at the Akatsuki rings Naruto wore and couldn't help but snicker. "Are you going to get a manicure to look even more like them?" She snickered. Naruto just laughed at the thought of him with purple nails. Sakura got up and walked to her bedroom, followed by Naruto who was following her like a lost puppy. He was about to enter her room, when a pillow collided with his face. "Wrong way buddy." Sakura said as she slammed the door in his face. "Can't blame me for trying..." He mumbled.

Naruto awoke to the sound of somebody tapping against his window. Naruto opened his eyes and saw Kirbie was the source of the sound. Naruto opened his window, almost making Kirbie loose his footing. "What?" He mumbled, still half asleep. "Guess what's coming up in a month?" Kirbie said as he entered the room? "A good night's rest?" "The jounin exams!" "So?" "I thought you might want to train for it... I can help you with preparations you know!" "Right, right, what do we have to do?" Naruto said as he took his katana and strapped it to his back. "It depends on the proctor, luckily for you, I know the proctor for the next exam, but it's gonna be hard." Kirbie said as he jumped out of the window. "Come on slowpoke, Sasuke and Sakura are already waiting for us!" Naruto sighed and jumped out of the window.

"The exam will consist out of three parts, one is stealth, second is hunting, and third is combat." Kirbie explained once they had all gathered in the forest. "For the first part, you will be released in a forest similar to the forest of death, without weapons and you will have to hide from about hundred ANBU's. During this part, the other examinees are the only people you can trust, and any form of combat is not allowed. The ANBU will use wooden kunais with paint on them, if they get paint on you, you lose. After three hours, an exit will open and you will have one hour to find it and use it. Before I forget, jutsu's are also strictly forbidden." "That doesn't sound very easy..." Sakura muttered. "It gets worse, in the second part, the roles will be switched and you will have to hit an ANBU that will hide in the forest with a painted wooden kunai. Again, you cannot use weapons or jutsu's, with the exception of the painted wooden kunai. For this you get three hours." Kirbie said calmly. "But how will they know if we hit somebody?" Sasuke asked, curious. "Every kunai has a different colour, the colour and who is using it is registered in a book. Now, for the third part, you will randomly be pitted against another examinee, it doesn't matter if you lose or win, they look for skill, jutsu knowledge and more." Kirbie explained. "So, what can you tell us about the proctor?" Naruto asked. "Ugh, that guy. He's, well, strange. His name is Eddie Shelton and he belongs to one of the best trackers in the ANBU. Enough about that, you have ten minutes to split up in the forest, then I will send 100 clones with marked kunai's to come look for you." Kirbie said. Quickly, the three ran into the woods as Kirbie sat down on a rock. "I probably should've mentioned that Sai is going to make 100 clones to look for them to..." He mumbled to nobody in particular.

Naruto sped through the forest. This sure was an unusual training method, but he assumed it could be useful in a lot of situations. He saw Sai standing in an opening, staring into nothing. Naruto landed near Sai, who spun around and threw a kunai at him. Naruto barely dodged the kunai, and noticed it had paint on it. Being able to put two and two together, Naruto took off, with Sai on his tail. _'Great, I'm not allowed to do any jutsu's and I have Sai after me.'_ Naruto thought as he sped up. He hoped Sakura and Sasuke were having more luck.

Sakura couldn't believe her bad luck, she was being chased by twenty Sai's and the number seemed to become bigger by the second. She was running on the ground, making sharp turns between the trees to try and lose them. It wasn't before long until she felt something touch her shoulder. She looked over and saw a wooden kunai had made contact with her. Cursing she came to a halt.

Sasuke was having more luck, nobody had been chasing him yet, that was until Naruto crossed his path and Sai went after him. Speeding through the forest he looked at his watch. **27:36. **Darn it, only 27 minutes? He wasn't going to last much longer. And he was right, five minutes later he was surrounded.

Naruto lasted the longest, he had dug himself underground as soon as Sai went after Sasuke. **1:05:14.** Everything went smooth until one of Sai's clones found one of the air holes leading into Naruto's hiding place.

**1:12:21** They were back in the same clearing where Kirbie explained everything. "Well, Naruto, your time was pretty good for a first time, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us." Kirbie said.

Meanwhile, in the Akatsuki cave. "What? You lost Deidera's ring to that Jinchuuriki!?" The leader growled. Kisame tried to speak without trembling "The jinchuuriki wasn't alone, Orochimaru had sent his lackeys and Uchiha Sasuke was helping Naruto." The leader roared "Damn that Orochimaru! Does he have to keep getting in our way? We shall forget about the Jinchuuriki for now, I have a new goal..." "Hey guys, Kakuzu is done with the operation." Zetsu said as he submerged from the ground. "Ah, very good, come, let's go pay our friend a visit." The leader said as he made his way to a hole in the wall.

**One week later.**

Naruto scratched the back of his head as he wore his cheeky grin, the three had finally been able to last for three hours. Sasuke wore his usual bored expression, even though he was quite pleased on the inside. Sakura was flushed, she was tired from running around so long. "Alright you three, get a good night's rest, tomorrow it's your turn to hunt!" Kirbie said enthousiastic. Even Sai was staring at Kirbie in disbelief. How could he be so energetic after three hours of running around? At least they were granted a night of rest.

Naruto rested his head in his hands, staring into the forest. He had already found a clone of Kirbie, so he had nothing else to do right now. Naruto damned his short attention span as he looked for something to do. After half an hour of being bored, Naruto finally saw Sakura coming out of the forest. "Got him?" Naruto asked as he jumped up. Sakura simply nodded and let herself fall down, sighing deeply. The rustling of the leafs sounded so relaxing, she could fall asleep, if it wasn't for Naruto's constant question asking. Ten minutes later, both Kirbie and Sasuke emerged from the forest. "Alright, that's all I can do to help, you will have to train for the third part by yourself." Kirbie said as he stretched once before dissapearing. "He's just like Ero-sennin." Naruto mumbled while he crossed his arms and nodded to himself. "I heard that!" Kirbie's voice echo'd through the air.

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Next chapter : Fleeing through the forest, the ANBU's shock.

On a related note, I would like to thank my friend for letting me use his OC 'Eddie Shelton', who will soon appear in the story to play an... Original role.


	13. Chapter 13: The ANBU's shock

I found the secret of the Uzumaki's! Ramen gives them power!

I would also express my thanks to one of the most loyal reviewers I have ever seen, Kane-the-Warrior! Happy Turkey day to you too! And because of his loyalness to my story, I'll reveal a secret... I have already written 26 chapters for this story, but I'm going to release them in small jumps of time. For one : It will help me make time to get through my writer's block, and second... I just like to annoy people. Happy readin'!

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Naruto raced down a road with his destination at the horizon. "Naruto, slow down!" Sakura yelled as she and Sasuke tried to keep up with him. Naruto and Sakura hadn't bothered to wear other clothes for the exam, but Sasuke was wearing the clothes he stole from Orochimaru. "Sasuke, why are you wearing that weird outfit from when you were still on Orochimaru's side?" Naruto asked as he waited for them to catch up at the gates of Konoha. "Three reasons. It's easy to move in, it's comfortable, and it attracts a lot of fangirls." Sasuke said seriously as they walked through the gates. They instantly noticed a group of rabid fangirls racing towards them. Sasuke smirked, he still had it. His amazement when the fangirls ran past him and tackled Naruto was huge. Sakura cracked her knuckles, freezing the fangirls cold. "Which one of you has the guts to touch my boyfriend?" She growled. It took the fangirls ten seconds to dissapear. Naruto jumped up and caught his breath "Those girls almost killed me! You don't want to know where they put their hands!" Sasuke grinned to himself. _'Now he knows what it's like.'_ He mused.

Naruto & friends entered the lounge where the potential jounins were gathered. The lounge radiated warmth, the walls were painted in a cheerful red. Chairs, tables and couches scattered the room. A quick scan across the room made Naruto notice some old friends. Shino, Hinata, Ino and Chouji were sitting in a corner talking amongst themselves. They seated themself next to the group. "Did you hear? Kiba and Neji are going to be part of the 100 ANBU." Chouji said. Naruto's mouth hit the ground. How was he supposed to dodge the byakugan AND cover his smell? The door to the lounge flew wide open, revealing a man of medium length with a tan. Naruto guessed he was about twentythree years old. He had brown hair that went down to his shoulders, and blue eyes that could freeze people in their tracks. he wore the normal jounin suit and had a sword strapped to his back. The man walked forward and scanned the room. "Fourty seven contestants, huh? Let me tell you this, less then 1/3 of you will become jounin during this exam. I am called Eddie Shelton, I will be the proctor for your exam. At the other side of the room is a door leading to the forest of dissapearances." The man said as he waved his hand at said door. "The forest of dissapearances is exactly like the forest of death, only smaller and with a one way entrance, and a one way exit. And yes, the name is appropriate, as many people have dissapeared in the forest." He said as he made his way to the door. "Follow me please."

Seven figures appeared in front of the entrance to Orochimaru's hideout. "He really sucks at hiding, doesn't he?" The largest figure asked. "Forget about that, you know our mission. We go in, kill everyone, and retreat. Do not engage Orochimaru, we still need him for our plans." A figure with red eyes ordered. "If we need him for our plans, why slow him down?" a figure with a familiar looking mask asked. "Because if we let him continue, he will start his plan to soon, and all will be ruined." The largest figure said again. "Enough chit chat, let's go!" the red-eyed man yelled. All seven men ran into the hideout and screams echo'd out of it only minutes later, together with the sound of weapons clashing.

The proctor arrived at a large black gate, with behind it a large forest. "Alright kids, listen up. In five minutes you will be allowed to enter the forest, in fifteen minutes, one hundred ANBU will come after you. Remain untouched by the marked kunai's for one hour, and then make your way to the exit, which is somewhere else. Once you have done that, you will have succeeded in the first part of the exam. One other thing, in this exam, it's every ninja for himself, don't forget that." The proctor said as he stepped towards a nearby lookout post. Everybody tensed, looking at the gate, waiting for it to open. After what seemed like forever, the gate slowly opened, giving acces for the potential jounins. They all took a deep breath and ran through the gate.

Naruto and Sakura had formed a small group and were traveling to the other side of the forest in a wide circle. "Why are we doing the circle thingy again?" Naruto asked quietly. "Because the ANBU will most likely travel to the other side in a straight line first, and from there split up to look through the entire forest." **"The ANBU have entered the forest."** a voice echo'd through the air. "Let's take to the trees, we can't give them footprints to help with the search." Naruto said as he jumped up.

At most ten minutes later, Naruto heard somebody come closer. He turned around and saw none other then Eddie Shelton catch up with them. "Crap, Sakura, it's the proctor!" Naruto said as he sped up. Sakura looked behind her, but failed to notice the broken of branch in front of her. Her leg ripped open on the branch, making her fall to the ground. Naruto quickly grabbed her before she hit the ground and ran as hard as his legs could bear. "Tsk, she is only weight on your legs, all she does is lower your chances of winning!" Eddie said as he started to chase after Naruto. "Naruto, he is right. Just forget about me and run!" Sakura pleaded. Naruto didn't answer, instead he started to run even faster. _'That kid is to fast...'_ Eddie thought as he stopped chasing Naruto.

Naruto came to a halt near a small pond. He gently sat Sakura down and took a first aid kit. He took a towel and dipped it in the pond. He quickly cleaned the wound and bandaged it. "Can you stand?" He asked when he was finished. Sakura shook her head. "Ooooh, how sweetly sickening." A voice said from behind them. Naruto spun around and came face to face with Kiba and Neji. Naruto spun around and grabbed Sakura, but then felt something touching the back of his neck. "Next time, we'll use marked kunai's..." Neji said as they stepped back. Naruto looked at the kunai's they had in their hands, they were unmarked! "Go before we change our mind." Kiba mumbled. Naruto nodded and ran off with Sakura. "We're gonna get in trouble for this..." Neji mumbled. "Eddie will kill us if he finds out..." Kiba answered. "Damn straight I'm going to kill you guys!" Eddie said from behind them. "Let's run for it Akamaru!" Kiba yelled as he dashed off into the distance, leaving Neji alone with Eddie. Sakura tried her best to stay awake, but exhaustion and the beating of Naruto's heart against her ear were to much for her to handle.

Sakura opened her eyes and found herself looking at a ceiling. She felt warmth radiating from below her and left from her. Somebody had also fixed her leg. She looked to her left and found out she was resting on Naruto's lap, he was sleeping himself. Did they lose? Sakura probably slowed him down. She was still so useless. She looked around and saw that they were back in the lounge, and that about half the contestants were there, including Sasuke. Sakura cursed her own weakness, a bit to loud because seconds later Naruto's eyes fluttered open. "Oh, your up." Naruto said cheerful. "What happened?" Sakura asked a bit drowsy. "All those here succeeded in the first part of the exam. The second part has been cancelled, so now we're waiting for the third part." Naruto explained. The door opened and the proctor entered the room. "Let us begin the last part of the exam." He said as he walked back through the door, barely leaving them enough time to follow.

They entered an arena that looked like an exact copy of the arena used in the prelimaries of the Chuunin exam, with the exception that the ceiling was gone and that there were chairs on top of the walls. As the contestants gathered in the middle of the arena, two names were already being chosen at random. Anko was sitting in one of the many chairs scattered over the walls, nervously biting her nails. "I know why I'm here, but what's your excuse?" Asuma asked as he sat down next to Anko. "I'm here to see my... My son..." Anko said. Asuma's mouth fell open, making his cigarette fall on the ground. _'Anko has a son!?'_ He thought. When the names were picked, everyone their eyes widened, including the hokage's. The proctor spoke "Uzumaki Naruto VS Haruno Sakura."

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DUMDUMDUM... What? I like to do that :p

Next chapter : Fight for love, Naruto's decision.


	14. Chapter 14: Naruto's decision

The ultimate (yea, right) showdown! Uzumaki Naruto VS Haruno Sakura! Stay tuned for more Drago--- more Naruto.

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Both Naruto and Sakura stared at the board in disbelief. They couldn't bring themselves to fight eachother just for a promotion to jounin. Tsunade jumped out of her seat and raced towards Eddie. "The hell do you think your doing? Why are you letting those two fight eachother?" She snarled at him. "I don't know what you mean, Hokage-sama. Those names were chosen randomly on that boa---" Eddie began. "Don't give me that crap, I know that you have a remote for that board." She growled. Eddie sighed before saying "Fine, I admit it. But so what if I made them fight eachother?" "You have ten seconds to give me a good reason to put my student up against her boyfriend." Tsunade threatened. "During the first part of the exam, Sakura her leg was wounded deeply, Naruto saved her from a nasty fall and ran around while carrying her the rest of the time, that girl can't rely on Naruto forever." "Fine, but I want their match last, I need to talk to both of them." Eddie nodded. "Ladies and gentlemen, in light of recent developments, the Uzumaki vs Haruno match has been moved to be the last match, we will move on to the next match."

Naruto sat in a small room with Kiba, Akamaru, Neji and Sasuke. "I can't do it, I can't fight her..." Naruto said, his look downcast. The others remained silent, not knowing how to respond. A knock on the door followed by the face of the hokage startled them. "Could I speak to Naruto alone for a minute?" She asked. Everone nodded and left, leaving Tsunade to stand in front of Naruto. "Naruto..." She started. "What intentions do you have with Sakura?" Naruto looked up in amazement. "What do you mean?" Naruto asked, recovering from his amazement. "Do you plan to be more then just her boyfriend? Maybe even marry her someday?" Tsunade asked, instantly noticing the colour rising to Naruto's face. "Well euhm, I never, I mean, euhm, well..." Naruto said, seemingly unable to form full sentences. Tsunade grinned, she knew all to well what that meant. "That's all I needed to know." Tsunade said with a grin showing all over her face. She left the room, allowing acess to Kiba and the others, and leaving a very confused Naruto behind.

Anko bit her nails, she seemed to tense more everytime the board flipped through another set of names. "You never told any of us you had a son..." Asuma mumbled. "Nobody knows, except the father, but he died not long after my son was born." Anko said, switching to the nails of her left hand. Asuma wondered who it could be.

A knock on the door interrupted the silence between Sakura, Ino and Hinata. Tsunade poked her head in. "Can I speak to Sakura alone please?" She asked as she fully opened the door. Tsunade waited until they were alone and then repeated the question she asked Naruto. Sakura cast her eyes at the ground. "I don't know. Maybe someday when I'm ready, I'll want him to marry me..." She said as colour rose to her cheeks. She didn't want anyone to know that! Well, at least not yet. Tsunade walked towards the door and without turning around said "I won't tell Naruto. But promise me Sakura, take care of him. I believe more things trouble him mentally then we think." Sakura merely nodded.

"Uchiha Sasuke wins!" The proctor said. "We will now move on to the final match. Uzumaki Naruto vs Haruno Sakura." He continued. Naruto walked to the middle of the arena, never looking at Sakura or anyone else. Sakura arrived in the center shortly after Naruto. "Begin!" The proctor yelled. Naruto instantly raised his hand. _'No, he couldn't be thinking of doing that!?'_ Sakura thought. "I forfeit." Naruto said calmly, even though Sakura saw a tear fall to the ground. The proctor nodded and declared Sakura the winner. Naruto turned to the exit and walked through it, leaving a trail of tears behind. "Naruto... You still put yourself last, don't you?" Tsunade mumbled.

Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha. His tears had dried up a while ago, but he still refused to look in front of him. **_"Cheer up kid, there will be more jounin exams. When's the next one?" _**Kyuubi asked. _"Two years from now... But that's not the problem."_ Naruto answered as he walked through the gates of Konoha. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the demon." A voice said from a nearby tree. Naruto focused his view into the tree and saw a squad of rock ANBU staring at him. "Your days of freedom are over, demon!" The same man said as they charged at Naruto. Something inside Naruto snapped at that point. He drew his katana and cut through the ANBU their weapons with ease. But he didn't leave it at that. He cleanly cut through all four of the ANBU, watching their corpses fall to the ground. Sheathing his weapon, he continued to walk to Root.

Naruto walked through the emptying streets of Root. Nighttime had fallen and people were slowly but surely moving to inside their homes. Naruto replayed todays events up until the point he forfeited, and new tears poured down his face. He made his way to his house, with any luck Sakura was already asleep and he could sneak in. Unfortunaly, the lights were still on when he arrived at the door. He slowly opened the door and was immediatly dragged into a chair by Sakura. He expected to be cursed at and that Sakura demanded an explanation, but instead she just sat on his lap and gave him a hug. "Now, do you mind telling me what's going on?" She asked. Naruto nodded and told her about what the Kyuubi did to Naruto as his birthday gift. Then he told him how he heard everything the people in the audience said. Then he told Sakura all the curses, insults and other things they said about him, and who said them. Near the end, Sakura was nearly crying herself. She knew some of those people, and she knew that Naruto knew them to. So it wasn't the loss of the jounin exam... After Naruto was done talking, she stood up and took his arm. "Come on, let's get a good night sleep and it'll be better in the morning." She said as she dragged him out of the chair. Naruto wanted to force himself out of her grip, but he was to tired to even try. Sakura opened the door to her room, and to Naruto's suprise, dragged him in with her. **_'JACKPOT!' _**Kyuubi screamed in Naruto's head.

Sakura awoke early in the morning, she hadn't slept so well in years. She looked over to Naruto, who was still sound asleep. Sakura was glad to have shared a bed with him, even though they didn't do anything. She quietly got out of bed, dressed and went to the hospital. She knocked on the door to Shizune's office and walked in. "Hello Sakura, what can I do for you?" Shizune asked cheerful. Sakura played with her fingers a bit, telling Shizune that she was nervous. "Do you have any jutsu's for birth control? Just to be safe?" She asked quietly. Shizune nodded and took a scroll out of her desk. "This one has yet to fail. It can be switched on and off at command but it takes some time before you can use it." Sakura nodded and ran out of the office.

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Next chapter : Naruto awakens! What the hell am I doing here?

Yes, the rock ANBU's are important to the story, just about 13 chapters from now.


	15. Chapter 15: Naruto awakens

Let me get two things straight : I do NOT believe that Tobi is Obito, nor do I believe Yondaime is the Akatsuki leader, so don't ask me if I do, or if they are in this story, because the answer to both is no.

Second : I checked out the story 'Training for the Job'... Well, I was going to, but the amount of words made me turn pale and quickly close the browser before I had a heart attack. I simply do not have the time to read such a long fanfiction, so if someone would be so kind enough to tell me what the stories have in common, that might clear a lot up.

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Naruto awoke with two hands around his waist. He looked down and saw Sakura snuggling against him, sound asleep. Part of him was growing hysterical. What did he do last night!? No more drinking for him... A second part, most likely Kyuubi, was doing flips out of happyness. And the third part... Let's just say the third part was suggesting some rather... disturbing ideas. It didn't get any better when the Kyuubi started agreeing on some of those ideas. Naruto tried to get loose of Sakura's grip without waking her up, but as he tried to move, her arms tightened their grip on him. "Where do you think your going, mister?" Sakura mumbled half asleep. Naruto chuckled, he wasn't getting out of her grip anytime soon, he might as well get comfortable.

Naruto stood in front of Kakashi, rubbing his aching back. "As I was saying, you may or may not know what happened to the village 'Kane' a number of years ago?" Kakashi asked, tapping his finger on the mission report in front of him. "They used to be a small ninja village in the north of the Fire Country, but were forced out of their town by rounins and missing-nin. Ever since they have been traveling, hoping to be able to get enough money to hire a large village to reclaim the village for them." Naruto said. Kakashi nodded and scratched his chin "And today is that day. They have requested us to send a large group of able ninja to help them." Kakashi said as he closed his visible eye. "Except replace a large group of able ninja with me and some others?" Naruto asked. Kakashi nodded. "I'll need Sakura and Shikamaru." Kakashi's eyebrown shot up "Are you letting your personal affairs meddle with your work, Naruto?" "No, she's the best medic-nin around." Naruto answered as he looked through the report. "Very well then, if your sure you don't need anyone else, you'll leave in an hour."

After three days of travel, Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura entered the camp of their employer and his small army. After getting directions by some of the men, they entered the main tent. "Konoha ninja? Are you the leaders of the army I hired?" A medium sized man asked. He had short black hair, with fitting black eyes. He wore a long black sleeved shirt with fitting black pants and some sort of variation of the Konoha jounin vest. "We are the army you hired, and who are you?" Naruto asked. "I am Fuusha Bryan, ex-leader of Kane. Now, who are you?" "This is Nara Shikamaru, he'll make the strategy for the battle. This lady here is Haruno Sakura and she will take care of the wounded. I myself will fight at the frontlines." Naruto said. Bryan nodded and took out a map to discuss the strategy.

Naruto stretched. The strategy was simple. Naruto would go in, hunt them until they flee out of town, where the army would grab them. Naruto had something more special in mind though. _'So I can kill whoever I want?' _Kyuubi asked. _'As long as they attack us and are our targets, yes.'_ Kyuubi merely grinned.

An impossible large amount of killing intent washed over everyone in and around Kane, knocking some of the weaker ninja out from the intensity. Everyone on both sides of the battlefield watched in horror as a huge, nine tailed fox formed, consisting out of nothing but pure chakra stood up besides the village. **"I have been brought out of my prison to ensure the takeover of a village named 'Rainbow'. I will give you a single chance to flee, after that I will kill every living person that remains in town." **Kyuubi's voice rumbled through the village, making people shake like a piece of paper in a tornado. People started running for their lives, leaving everything but their family members behind, until a rather small group of missing-nin and rounin's remained. they jumped onto the roof of the highest building in town, still barely reaching above Kyuubi's legs. They jumped up and attacked Kyuubi.

Sakura stared in pure horror. Naruto had that living in his head? The sheer power of the creature made it hard for Sakura to breath. She knew the Kyuubi was powerful, but not THAT powerful. She looked over at the kitsune and saw it was easily hitting it's attackers away with it's massive paw. Sakure felt a shockwave errupt from the battlefield everytime the demon brought his paw down. Soon, all the opponents were knocked out, and the Kyuubi was left growling on the battlefield. Then, something strange happened. Kyuubi staggered and seemed to lose conciousness, before dissapearing. Sakura's eyes widened. "You two, get a stretcher and follow me!" She yelled at two of the soldiers.

Sakura arrived at the plaza and found Naruto lying there, unconcious. She ran over to him and tried various medical ninjutsu, without succes. She got rid of Naruto's shirt so she could see his stomach, or more specifically, the Kyuubi's seal. What she saw confused and scared her. Half of the seal had dissapeared! She knew of only one person that could help Naruto now...

Kyuubi stared at the opening in his prison. **"Strange, I never expected anything like this to happen..."** Kyuubi said.

Two days later, back in Root. Jiraiya, Kakashi, Sakura and stood around a hospital bed containing Naruto. "Strange, the seal is meant to be invisible unless Naruto uses the Kyuubi's chakra, which means that chakra is leaking out of Kyuubi's prison, killing Naruto from the inside..." Jiraiya said as he swept his hand over the seal. Sakura had to force back some tears. "Is there anyway to save him?" Kakashi asked. Jiraiya sighed once before saying "There are two ways. The first is moving the Kyuubi into another body, but that will kill the person who does the transfer. The second is moving part of the Kyuubi into another person, but I don't know how that will affect either person." "Then let me do it." Sakura said.

A few minutes later, Sakura was laying on a hospital bed next to Naruto, stomach also exposed. "Are you sure you wish to do this?" Jiraiya mumbled. "Look, Naruto's life is at stake, right? Then I don't care about what I have to do so make with the seal!" Sakura yelled. Jiraiya nodded and ran through some seals, before hitting both Naruto and Sakura in the stomach with his palms. In kyuubi's prison, a large force seemed to suck part of Kyuubi out of his prison. That part awoke in a smaller version of the prison, in a location that was unknown to him. **"... Why the hell is this prison in a meadow?" **Kyuubi asked himself.

Naruto's eyes fluttered open, he saw Sakura, Kakashi and Jiraiya towering over him. "What?" He mumbled, still half asleep. "He's awake! Are you alright?" Sakura asked. Naruto's eyes were drawn to Sakura exposed stomach. "What's that? A tattoo?" He asked as he noticed something that looked like the left half of the Kyuubi seal. Kakashi took the honours of telling why Sakura had the 'Tattoo' also taking time to explain that, unlike Naruto's, it doesn't go away. "Sakura... I'm sorry to have bestowed the mark of an outsider on you..." Naruto said, feeling guilty. Everyone got quiet, until Sakura kissed Naruto on the cheek. Silently, the others left the room, leaving Naruto and Sakura some time alone.

A woman arrived at the gates of Root. She had blue eyes and red hair. She was about fourty years. She was short and she didn't have any headbands showing. "Miss? Can I help you?" The guard asked. "I'm looking for Uzumaki Naruto."

"Mister Himura? Can I have a word with you?" A voice asked from behind Kenshin as he was attending to his crops. Kenshin turned and saw a man in a suit, a small moustache and a hat that blocked the view of his eyes. Kenshin nodded and got up. "My employers want to hire you and your friends again to 'remove' another one of Orochimaru's possesions." "It's to soon, Orochimaru will have tightened security." "That is where you are incorrect, Akatsuki has launched an attack against his hideout, so his security is as good as none. "Very well, what do we have to steal?" "An artifact, or more precisely, the snake summoning scroll."

Two man stared at the small town in front of them. "Why did the leader send us here again?" "Because you forgot about your ring, and now WE have to get it back." "I get the picture Tobi. Let's go..." They both started walking towards town.

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Alright, I before you flame me for rushing this chapter, let me put up a defence :

1: This chapter had given me the biggest writer's block up until that point in the story.

2: I didn't like the way I stuck this into eachother, but I need Kane and Bryan for later in my story. (about the same time as the Rock ANBU their deaths will resurface)

3: I need the Naruto-Kyuubi-Sakura connection because my brother cooked up some funny dialogue for them, for bonding between the couple, and finally, an important event at the end of my story (don't worry, I'm not close)

Time to reply to reviews!!! Yaaay! sees people leave Get your asses back here!

Forsaken Kyo-kun : Why thank you, it took a while to think out some of the bigger parts of the story, but my brother helped me a lot. I'm not completely sure if I will let Naruto fight the Akatsuki Leader, but he's going to fight my favourite member rather soon. Anko's secret? I'll get back on that in two chapters. Naruto's bloodline? A secret!

Kane-the-Warrior : Dear god woman, have you been sniffing sugar or something? To answer the question about the rock ANBU, no they don't know who his parents are... Were... Have been?


	16. Chapter 16

So I was playing FFXI today, and I meet this person with the name 'Teencum' ... What is wrong with people!?

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Naruto sighed, Sakura finally convinced him that she was happy with the seal, but he still felt guilty. Naruto decided to take a walk over 'The Great Naruto Bridge' to clear his mind. He was deep in thought when something hit him in the head. "Right between the eyes!" A voice exclaimed. Naruto looked up and saw that there were three kids standing about ten feet away from him, with a pile of rocks next to them. "What was that for!?" Naruto yelled, rubbing his forehead. "Go back to your town, ninja! We don't want your kind here!" One of the kids yelled, throwing another rock. Naruto caught the stone with ease "Mind explaining me why you don't want my kind here?" The children kept throwing stones, which Naruto either avoided, caught or blocked. As soon as they were out of stones, the kids started running. Knowing that worse would await him in the town, Naruto got out a robe, cloak and hood, all gray, and put them on. He made a kage bushin and turned him into a cane. Then as a final touch, he attached a long beard to his face. Checking to see if there was anything left to make him look like a ninja, he resumed his walk over the 'Great Naruto Bridge.'

At the end of the bridge, Naruto was greeted by the sight of angry villagers. Naruto walked up to them and tried to imitate an old man's voice "Greetings sir, is there some sort of problem?" He asked. "That depends, are you a ninja?" The man asked. Naruto shook his head while coughing. The man motioned for somebody to come closer, and a squad of ninja from Suna emerged from the group. One being a man around his fourties, and a trio of kids around twelve. The man stepped forward, looked at Naruto for a minute and stepped back. "He's not a ninja." The man said as he stepped down. "Very well. Some ninja from Root have been attacking our town since yesterday, destroying our shops and homes." "Well that just boils my potato!" Naruto answered, hitting the bottom of his cane against the ground. Naruto stepped up against the group before saying "I'm going to put those guys over my knee and spank them so hard that their grandparents can feel it!"

A small amount of time later, a very large group appeared in the fog consuming the bridge. Naruto looked if he could see any familiar faces. Strange, none, yet he knew everyone in Root by face. "Allow me to take care of this." Naruto said, stepping in front of the group. "Old man, it's best if you leave it up to us... We're ninja." One of the genin explained. "How many missions have you done, kid?" Naruto asked as he untied the cloak and let it fly. "Seven. Why do you want to know?" The jounin asked. "Seven, huh? I've done more S missions then that." Naruto said as his robe dropped to the floor. The hood followed shortly which lead to a gasp of the jounin "Konoha's yellow flash! No, that's impossible..." Naruto ignored the comment and charged at the imposters.

"Who are you and why are you imposing to be Root ninja?" Naruto yelled as he crossed weapons with the first man. "That is none of your concern!" A man yelled as he stabbed Naruto, who poofed into one of his allies. At least fifty Naruto's popped up between the imposters, cutting through their ranks with ease. "Sensei, who is that man?" One of the genin asked. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's the 'Konoha Yellow Flash'. But he's been dead for nineteen years... Could this man be his succesor?" The man wondered.

Sakura sighed, she knew her parents wouldn't take the seal well, but she didn't expect her father to go nuts like that. "You let him stick that monster in your head!?" Hattori yelled. **_'So now I'm the monster?' _**Kyuubi mumbled. "Honey, calm down, it was for Naruto's own good." Kaoru said. "Who cares about that freak of nature's good!?" Hattori yelled; not seeing Sakura's fist in time as it made contact with his face, breaking his jaw. **_'Go Sakura, oh yea, oh yea! Goooo Sakura!'_** an overenthousiastic Kyuubi exclaimed. Hattori got up "The Kyuubi told you to do that, didn't it?" "Yes. I wanted to kill you." Sakura said serious. She turned towards the door "I'm going shopping. Oh, and father, if you ever badmouth Naruto again, I **WILL** kill you." **_'Your creepier then me...'_**

Three heads popped out of a bush near the entrance to Orochimaru's hideout. The first was Himura Kenshin, the second Sagara Sanosuke and the third was a large man who wore a buttoned blue suit, fitting blue hat and a katana around his waste. "You know the plan, right?" Kenshin asked. Sano nodded "I go in through the ventilation and look for the scroll, then I tell you to go on a killing spree." "And you, Saitoh?" "When punk finds the scroll, I knock on that snakeboy's door and keep him busy." Saitoh Hajime replied. Kenshin nodded and all went to work.

Naruto stared at the pile of knocked out imposters. "Excuse me, Yellow Flash?" The sensei of the Suna team asked. Naruto turned towards them. "Yellow Flash? You must be mistaking me with someone, I'm Uzumaki Naruto." "Ah, my mistake, my name is Funsai Daichi, jounin from Suna. These are my students Katto Shinrin, Nentenmaru Gogyou and Ishiko Kabe." He said, pointing out the genin. "Pleased to meet you." Naruto said cheerful. He then amazed the people again by summoning a large amount of human sized frogs and putting the imposters on their back. "I'm sorry, but I have to deliver these imposters to the town. Tell Gaara I said hi, ok?" Naruto said as he dissapeared into the distance. Once again the jounin was suprised. "He knows Kazekage-sama!? Who are you Uzumaki Naruto?" He asked confused.

A knock on the door interupted Sakura from fitting her new clothes. She opened the door and saw a short redheaded and blue-eyed fourty year old woman standing in front of her. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this was the Uzumaki residence." She said. Sakura wasn't worried, it wasn't the first time a woman arrived at their door for Naruto, but every time she wished it was the last. "It is, please come in." She said as she stepped aside."So, why do you want to speak with my boyfriend?" Sakura asked puzzled. "Well, how to put this... Uzumaki Naruto is... Well, my son."

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DUNDUNDUUUUUUUN

It seems like I have more readers then Jiraiya's books!

Ok, I was going to reply to reviews, but my internet decided to go crappy and forget to save the replies. So I will only make two things straight :

1: Too all the 'Your story is to similar to "training for the job"' people, unlike most of you, two people have been helpful enough to tell me what is similar and I can only conclude this. You people are the kinds of people who would say I ripped off 'insert story here' if I kill a main character. I can stand critisism, but at least try to bring some proof next time.

2: I have noticed that some people have abused the anomynous review to flame me without a good reason. Those reviews have been deleted. If this happens again I'll be forced to unable the anomynous review.


	17. Chapter 17: Akatsuki returns!

10 bananas to the monkey that finds out where I stole Saitoh Hajime from.

Alright, let's drop the 'Training for the Job' subject in here, I hate having to talk to ten people at the same time in the same message. If you really wish to discuss (and I mean discuss as in an intelligent conversation, flames and 1337 aren't accepted) it further, please send me an email and I'll be glad to talk it out.

Also, for the person that said 'I can't be bothered to read Training for the Job' you are incorrect. I simply don't have time to read such a long story, basically because when I begin reading a story, I can't stop until I'm done.

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Sakura could faint right now, but she had to make sure this woman was telling the truth. "If you really are his mother, why did you abandon him for all these years?" Sakura asked. "I was scared. He was going to ask who his father was, and what was I supposed to say? That his father died so he could be stuck with the Kyuubi? I was young and stupid, I want to make it up with him..." The woman replied. "You came at the worst time. If Naruto finds out who his father is now, he will take his dream of becoming hokage for granted..." Sakura said as she took a small amount of pictures of Naruto for the woman to see. "Please don't tell him your his mother until he becomes Hokage. The last thing he needs right now is being confused." "... I understand; but can I at least meet him?" "Meet who?" Naruto asked as he walked into the house. "Nobody important, did you meet my friend yet? Her name is..." "Misao." "Pleased to meet you, do you want me to leave?" Naruto asked. Misao shook her head.

Two figures stood in an alley of Root. "Admit it, Tobi. We're lost." The first one said. "No, I just don't know where to go." "... Why did I get stuck with you? Even the way you talk is weird, and you have no sense of direction at all!" The second one yelled back. "Well well well, did two Akatsuki members get lost? Hello Tobi, Deidera." A voice said from above them. They looked up and cursed under their breath. Kirbie and Eddie stood on top of the buildings around the alley. Tobi and Deidera immediantly started running. "Darn it all, the security is to good. If we get into a battle, the Jinchuuriki will be alarmed and when he's done with us, you can scrape us of the walls." Deidera said as they sped through the alleys. "What do we do then?" "We get the hell out of here and kill anyone that follows us out of town."

Orochimaru sat in his study, reading a book, when a katana cut the door into pieces and a man walked through. "Hello, Orochimaru." Saitoh said calmly. Orochimaru got up and reached for his Kusanagi only to see Saitoh had it in his hands. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow this for a small amount of time?" Saitoh said, his voice still calm even though the amazed look on Orochimaru's face amused him. Saitoh held the Kusanagi out in front of him, leaned through his legs and held his left palm against the tip of the katana. "My my, in order for that attack to work, you'd need a lot of strength in your legs. Are you sure you don't want to use an easier stance?" Orochimaru mocked. Saitoh said nothing, instead he charged forward with great speed. _'Not bad, but that attack has a lot of flaws. That charge puts a lot of strain on his legs, and if it fails, he is open for attack.' _Orochimaru planned as he avoided the attack. Saitoh suddenly turned to face Orochimaru, sweeping his sword into Orochimaru's leg. He cried out in pain and pulled the sword out. "It is said, that being cut from a sharp blade doesn't hurt. Tell me, is it true?" Orochimaru hissed at him. "Saitoh, you can retreat. The package has been secured." "Well, it's been nice, but now we have to part ways." Saitoh said as he ran out of the door, only waiting to throw the Kusanagi on the ground. Orochimaru raced ater him but found his speed drastically decreased due to the wound in his leg. "He never tried to kill me, he just wanted to stall me, but for what?"

Naruto woke up, once again next to Sakura, who had her arms around his waist. "I know what your thinking, and no i'm not letting you go until I'm ready to wake up." Sakura murmered before Naruto could even try to move. "Naruto, what do you think of Misao?" "She's a bit old for me..." "Naruto! I'm serious!" "So am I! Haven't you seen the way she looks at me?" Sakura sighed. "Alright, alright... She's nice, but she looks familiar for some reason." "Familiar? Wh-why would she look familiar to you?" Sakura asked, getting a bit nervous. "Uzumaki Naruto get your lazy ass down here!" A voice yelled from downstairs. Naruto got up puzzled, almost dragging Sakura out of bed with him.

Naruto stood in front of Kirbie and Eddie, staring in disbelief. "Mind running that through me once again?" He asked. Both men sighed. "An eightman team has been composed to hunt down the two Akatsuki that appeared in town yesterday night. You, Sakura, Sasuke, me, Eddie, Saitoh Hajime, Himura Kenshin and Sagara Sanosuke." Kirbie said. Naruto sighed "Putting aside the fact that I didn't know Akatsuki infiltrated town and i'm only made aware now... They give me five incompetent fighters to hunt down two of the most lethal criminals in existence..." Both Kirbie and Eddie flipped him the bird. "We are scheduled to leave through the west exit in an hour. Be there." Kirbie ordered. Naruto's eye twitched. His team composed out of Sakura, a medic nin. Saitoh and Sasuke, who nearly never said a word. Sanosuke, a person with an anger management problem. Kenshin, a peaceloving fighter and finally, Kirbie and Eddie, two... complete and utter weirdo's. "This can only end in pain..." Naruto muttered.

"Alright, we'll split up into groups of two. Me & Eddie are group one. Saitoh Hajime and Sasuke your group two. Sakura and Sano your group three, and Naruto and Kenshin are group four. If you find them, make contact over the headsets and let some explosion tags fly." Kirbie said. Everyone nodded and ran into different directions in said groups.

Saitoh and Sasuke were walking through the forest without ever saying a word, until a voice came from behind them "Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." They turned their heads to the source of the voice, to see Zetsu standing on a branch. "This oughta be easy."

"Hey Kirbie..." Eddie began "What?" "I was thinking..." "You dirty liar." "If I would cut of my legs and eat them, would I still weigh the same?" Kirbie turned towards Eddie "... You were dropped on your head as a baby, wern't you?" "How'd you know that?"

"Swordchucks?" Naruto asked with his eyebrows up into his hair. "Yep, swordchucks. He thought it would be a good idea to try and make them, he still has scars from testing it." Kenshin said as he shook his head at the thought. A kunai impaled itself in Kenshin's foot, making him cry out in pain. "I will be your opponent." Tobi said, appearing in front of them.

"Swordchucks? What are those?" Sakura asked. "They're my brilliant invention!" Sano grinned. Something blocked the sun, making Sano and Sakura stand in darkness. They looked up and saw a huge bird hovering above them. "Well well, a washed up fighter and a medic nin, this should be easy." Deidera said from on top of the bird.

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If you haven't noticed yet, Eddie and Kirbie are the comical notes in the story.

Now, about Anko's son, he really had only one purpose, making people suspect Anko was Naruto's mother, which according to my research, is rather unlikely due to Anko being only 12 when Naruto was born. According to one of the reviews, the plan worked! Hurrah!


	18. Chapter 18: Akatsuki vs Root

I challenge anyone to find me an MMORPG that is unhackable! Caus I'm getting tired of those damn bastards... 

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Kenshin pulled the kunai out of his foot and threw it at Tobi. The kunai phased through Tobi as he burst out in laughing. Kenshin's eyes widened in shock as he saw the kunai hit the branch behind Tobi. "But, he didn't even move... How?" Kenshin asked as he recovered from the shock. "Genjutsu." Naruto mumbled as he dispelled it. "Though I have to admit, this is a very original genjutsu. Most would show you your greatest fears, melt your flesh, and more. Yours on the other hand was quite realistic, showing us how the real thing would've gone, up until the kunai throw." Naruto said. "Very good, it took me a while to develop this genjutsu, I seem to have underestimated you." Tobi said as he jumped out of the tree. Kenshin charged forward and jumped high into the sky, higher then an untrained person was ever able to do. He came crashing down on Tobi, aiming the katana at his head. To his amazement, Tobi intercepted the katana by catching the flat ends between his index and middle finger. Grabbing the rurouni by his clothes with his left hand, he swung him around, into a tree. Naruto ran through some handseals and spat a ball of wind at Tobi, sending him reeling through trees and rock formations alike. Almost a mile later, the ball finally lost it power, and Tobi got slammed into another tree and fell to the ground.

"Hey Kirbie..." Eddie began. "Oh dear lord not again... What?" Kirbie asked with a sigh. "I was wondering, how does a blind man know when to stop wiping his behind on the toilet?" Eddie asked. Kirbie pondered for a second before turning to Eddie "You know, that's a good question..."

Zetsu pulled himself into the branch and resurfaced on the ground. Sasuke ran through some handseals and a dozen of giant snakes jumped out of the ground and slithered towards Zetsu. "Cute." Zetsu said as vines shot out of the ground and whipped them away. Saitoh had taken this time to get behind Zetsu and use his stance to try and strike him in the back. Two vines grabbed both of his hands and arms and lifted him into the air, leaving him struggling. **"I have no interest in you, flea."** Zetsu's other side said. Sasuke ran through some handseals and got his hand in position for a chidori, but instead his hand lit on fire. It quickly carried over to his other hand and Sasuke easily cut through the vines holding Saitoh with his hands. The fire dissapeared, leaving traces of burn marks on Sasuke's hands. He ran through another set of handseals as Zetsu sent his vines after him again, using a Goukakyuu to burn the vines and put half of the forest on fire. "Oh shit..." Zetsu said as he realised Sasuke's intention.

"Hey Kirbie, I was wondering again..." "Yes Eddie, your gay." "No, seriously, I was thinking." "Suicide is the only way out..." Kirbie said as he took a look around. "Euhm Eddie, we have a problem..." "Don't tell me we're lost!" "Fine, I won't tell you."

Sano dodged another clay bomb, almost hitting a tree in the process. Sakura had dissapeared for over a minute, so Sano asumed she had left him to rot or went for help. In truth, she was gathering chakra for her plan from a safe location. Earlier she had made a kage bushin to get for help, and planted a cluster of explosion tags near the top of the tree closest to her. As Deidera's bird got close to the tree, her plan was set in motion. She let the tags explode, ripping the birds right wing off. Deidera desperately tried to replace the wing as both bird and master were on a crash course towards the ground. A powerful punch to the cheek from Sakura snapped Deidera's jaw and sent him reeling, right towards Sano. He kicked Deidera in the face, Smashing him into the ground. "Oh now it's on, bastards!" Deidera exclaimed as he jumped into the tree Sano was in and kicked him in the gut.

"Eeny, mieney, mieny moe, catch the tiger by the toe, eeny mieney mieny moe..." Eddie said as he pointed at the different paths. "Why were you chosen as leader of this group again?" Kirbie sulked. "Hey, if you know a better way then rock, scissor, paper, let me hear it..." Eddie said.

Kenshin crawled on his knees, trying to get up by leaning on his sheath shakily. Tobi stood up and cracked his neck a couple of times, before slowly making his way back to Naruto. _'He's not even scratched, this should be intresting...'_ Naruto mused. Before Tobi could even attack, something hit him hard in the face. It was Kenshin's sheath, which he had thrown with deadly precision. He was standing shakily on his legs, glaring at Tobi. Tobi rubbed his mask and took the sheath in his hand. In an instant, he stood in front of Kenshin. "I believe this belongs to you..." He said calmly as he thrusted the sheath straight through Kenshins stomach, like it was a katana. Kenshin coughed up some blood and fell flat on his stomach. "That's one down..." Tobi said as he turned towards Naruto. He ran through some handseals and muttered "World of dark." The forest dissapeared, leaving nothing but darkness behind. "Interesting genjutsu, but I don't see the point in it..." Naruto said. Tobi ran through another set of handseals and completely dissapeared. "Aw nuts..."

"I say we just go to where that big amount of smoke is..." Kirbie said as he pointed at the huge column of smoke. Eddie nodded and they dissapeared.

Zetsu was in a lot of trouble and he knew it, the ground was torched, unabling him to run, and the fire was closing in fast.A plan suddenly came to mind, as he forced the trees to move their branches, making a clearing where he was sprouting. He ran through some handseals and a small amount of clouds amassed in the sky. Rain poured down, extinguishing the flames and feeding Zetsu's vines. Saitoh took his stance and ran at Zetsu. Zetsu sent a large amount of vines at Saitoh, with the intent to rip him apart. Saitoh jumped up and crashed down on top of Zetsu with his katana.

"Hey, look at this, pieces of mud." Eddie said as he kneeled down. "I bet they're from Deidera, we're getting closer." Kirbie said.

Sakura coughed up some blood. She didn't expect her opponent to be a skilled taijutsu user. Deidera stood opposed from her, and next to her stood Sano, who, even after taking a huge beating, was grinning. "I'll teach you to grin like that against someone like me! Tajuu doru bushin no jutsu!" Deidera said as hundreds of clones formed out of the mud surrounding them. "That explains why he lured us to this muddy area..." Sakura said as she mentally kicked herself for falling for such a simple trick. Suddenly, thunder crashed down, tearing half the clones into pieces. "Katon! Goukakyuu no jutsu!" A voice called out of the trees as a large ball of fire incinerated the other half. Eddie and Kirbie jumped out of the trees. "It's time for us to have our share of the fun." Kirbie said with a grin pinned across his face.

---

Hey, I did a complete chapter with nothing but fights, hurray for me! ... I said hurray darn it!!!

chm01: Indeed they are, though I only took Misao's name, because I myself am horrible at making up names. And between you and me, I'm stuck at chapter 27 off my story, stupid writer's block.

Zero the Dark Knight: Heh, that's an original way to use my story, but thanks for the compliment.

The Rogue Stallion: You might have a point there... Might. Also, your question is answered in this chapter.

Kane-the-Warrior: I didn't believe Anko was only 12 either, but my source is very reliable. And if Yondaime was anything like his teacher, he was probably a pervert to... Maybe even a pedophile... And you really have a strange obsession with Thanksgiving's day, don't you?

playeer d: And take the fun out of leaving people in the dark? ... Nah.

DeathRaiderz: What did I say about dropping the subject? Also, you have some knowledge on chemistry, huh? Let me get back to you on that.


	19. Chapter 19: For whom the bell tolls

Anybody know which creature has how many tails or a link to that info? For some reason I keep thinking the 8-tails is a snake...

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Naruto stood straight and closed his eyes. If Tobi was even half of the ninja Naruto thought he was, he knew how to keep his movements silent and his breathing under control. So he had to rely on scent... In other words, he had to rely on the kyuubi, or hope that Kenshin wasn't in the illusion and had enough strength left to attack Tobi. That thought was cut short when Naruto heard a kunai fly towards him. He didn't have enough time where the kunai was coming from, as it thrusted itself in Naruto's left arm. He whimpered once and quickly pulled the kunai out. Blood trickled from his arm, but he didn't have time to think about that as he felt a stinging sensation in his back. "Having problems with the dark?" Tobi asked with a childish tone. Naruto heard his katana unsheath. "That's a nice weapon you have here, would you like to die by it's hand?" The Akatsuki member continued. "You got three seconds to put that back where you got it, or I'll tear you apart and spit on the pieces."

Zetsu had gotten out of harms way by withdrawing into the earth once more. He shot up behind Saitoh and made his vines tangle him up again. Saitoh sighed "You know, this is getting old." Zetsu snickered "I agree, want me to end it here?" Sasuke appeared in Zetsu vision, with a flaming katana. "Aw cripes.." Zetsu released Saitoh and withdrew into the ground. He silently came out of the ground, hidden between trees and other green. He rapidly ran through some handseals before mumbling "Ninpou. Art of the living plant." The entire area started to shake, or to be more specific, the trees started to shake. Roots shot up and it seemed like the forest was coming alive. Saitoh jumped back in suprise while Sasuke ran through some handseals. He was interupted when one of the roots whipped at him. "Careful now, those roots can cut you in half." Zetsu said from his hiding place. Thousands of roots shot out of the ground and raced towards Saitoh and Sasuke. Sasuke quickly ran through his handseals again and cried out "Katon! Karyuu Endan!" Sasuke spat large jets of fire to all directions, burning the roots and trees. Zetsu cursed under his breath and withdrew into the ground, this time to escape.

Deidera wasn't fairing to well, taijutsu wasn't his strongest side, and he couldn't retreat far enough to use his bombs. That's when he noticed something on one of his attacker's stomach. _'Is that...? Hmmm, this is important information...'_ Deidera thought as he noticed the seal on Sakura's stomach. He dropped a smokebomb and fled on the back of his clay bird. "Aw man, we didn't even get to use any techniques!" Eddie whined as he saw Deidera fly away. Kirbie just sighed and smacked Eddie on the back of the head.

Tobi laughed, well, it was more like evil cackling. "Had enough yet?" He asked. Naruto staggered before grabbing both of Tobi's arms "Heck no." He grinned. Naruto threw Tobi over him, slamming his head into the ground. The illusion dissapeared and Naruto could see Deidera and Tobi on a clay bird, flying away.

"Aw come on Deidera! I was having the best fight in a long time!" Tobi pouted. "Tobi, I discovered something more important then fighting." "More important then fighting? Your joking!" _'That punk is one of a kind, the fact he enjoys only fighting makes him perfect Akatsuki material, but his childish additude makes me wanna rip his throat out.' _Deidera thought as Tobi ranted over the fight.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Sano exclaimed as Sakura tried to tend his wounds. "Stop being a wuss or i'll break the rest of your ribs!" Sakura ordered as she used her healing abilities to fix most of Sano's wounds. "More importantly, shouldn't we go after them?" Saitoh asked as he took a look at the direction Deidera's bird escaped to. "That's what they want us to do, they could have other members waiting for us at their destination, or they could attack town while we leave it unguarded." Naruto said as he started to heal Kenshin.

"Hey, Hinata!" Kiba yelled at the top of his lungs. Hinata turned around and saw Kiba run down the street towards her. He came to a halt in front of her and caught his breath. "Kiba? Is something the matter?" Hinata asked puzzled. "Well euhm, I forgot to give Naruto the invitation..." Kiba said as he scratched the back of his head. Hinata's eye twitched, Kiba knew he was gonna get the beating of a lifetime if Naruto didn't recieve the invitation. "So I'm gonna send Akamaru to deliver it to him personally!" Kiba said as he ran away from the Hyuuga.

Nauro and Sakura were awakened by scratching on the door and low barking. After ten minutes of arguing and three rounds of rock-scissor-paper, Sakura forced herself out of bed and dragged herself downstairs. She opened the door only to see a large blur pass her. The blur came to a sudden halt when Naruto put his foot against the creature's nose. "Akamaru?" Naruto asked a little confused. Sakura grabbed the letter hanging from Akamaru's neck and opened it. "What does it say?" Naruto asked as he tried to read the letter. "... Kiba and Hinata are, they're getting married."

---

Note : sorry for finishing the battle so soon, but I always get writer blocks during long fights...


	20. Chapter 20: No honeymoon?

Chapter twenty!!! And I'm only about a year late.

The official explanation for being late? I forgot to update.

The real explanation for being late? I was trying to write a lemon (near the hot springs bit, actually) but after months of trying, I gave up, I'm not good at that stuff.

The second real explanation? I didn't like this chapter and had to edit some things out.

I hope everyone will forgive me for being so late!

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Chapter 20 : Dancing and hot springs and weddings, oh my!

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Naruto's eye twitched as he grabbed for his wallet, stuffed some ryou into an envelope and gave it to Akamaru. "What's that for?" Sakura asked puzzled. "I lost a bet. I always thought I would marry before Kiba did." Naruto said. "Don't look at me buster, I'm not stupid enough to marry you." Sakura said, half joking. "So, when's the wedding?" Naruto asked exciting. "Hold your horses, your acting like it's your wedding..." Sakura said as she scanned the letter. "In a week." Sakura said calmly. Naruto panicked and ran out of the house, towards the training grounds. "What's his hurry?" Sakura mumbled.

Sakura landed in a tree near the training grounds, and what she saw there almost made her fall out of the tree laughing. Backing up against the tree, and putting her hand over her mouth to silence the laughter, she looked at how Naruto was trying to dance with a clone, and failing miserably. Even though his dancing capability was close to zip, his hearing worked perfectly, as he swung around and stared at Sakura's hiding place. "Sakura, what are you doing in there?" Naruto asked, motioning in confusion. Sakura's eyes widened, how could he see through the branches and leafs of the tree like they were glass? She jumped out of the tree and waved towards Naruto. "Naruto, what were you trying to do?" Sakura asked. Naruto froze, she had seen him! Now he had to admit it. "I was trying to learn myself to dance..." Naruto said, not louder then a whisper. Sakura fought back a chuckle as she responded "You could've just asked me. Here, let me show you."

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AN : I wrote most of this chapter months ago, but the next part was made just now, since I was unhappy with the original version of this chapter. The next bit will be in a different style, which I only started using at chapter 33, consider this a sneak peak of what's to come.

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Sakura sighed as she sat down on a stone in the hot spring, her towel tightly wrapped around her body. She had reserved the entire hot spring for herself, since being naked around strangers made her nervous. She looked at her reflection in the water, and wondered if her body was mature enough. _'Kyuubi? Can I ask you something?'_

_**'What is it?'**_Kyuubi asked, curious what the pink know it all would want to know in the middle of a hot spring.

_'Do you think I'm attractive enough for Naruto?'_

Kyuubi groaned, he didn't understand why woman thought their looks were everything. Then again, he never completely understood the concept of love either._**'Look, Naruto "loves" you because of who you are, not because of your looks.'**_

_'I guess so... Men are so strange.'_

_**'I beg to differ, men are just so simple that women overthink things.' **_The most feared creature in existence explained.

_'Really? Well if men are so simple, then you can easily explain it to me, huh?' _The pink haired kunoichi replied.

Kyuubi growled, he had walked straight into a trap. _**'Well... I can't speak for all men, but with Naruto, just showing your affection to him means a lot, remember that we are talking about someone who spent twelve years of his life all alone.'**_

Sakura nodded, somewhat sadly. _'Thanks Kyuubi, that's good to know.'_

_**'Just don't start using me like some sort of information desk...' **_The fox growled, moving to the far side of his cage.

_**One week later.**_

Naruto hated the suit Sakura had bought him, but if he complained, she would kill him. The fact that they were taking a carriage to the wedding made him feel uneasy. The fact that it was plated with gold made him feel like stuck up royalty. "Why do I have to be the driver!" Sasuke whined. "Because your the only one who's going without a date! And your the only guy in town who knows how to ride a carriage with six horses!" Sakura yelled back. Naruto sighed, when Sakura got her hands on his wallet, it HAD to be emptied... Now he finally figured out how Jiraiya was able to keep so much money for himself. However, any thoughts like that were immediately erased when Naruto cast a single look on her. She was worth it, she deserved it.

"You didn't get your ring back!?" The Akatsuki leader barked. Tobi gulped while Zetsu tried to hide underground. "Euhm, well, you see..." Deidera started. "We found out something even more important." "More important then the ring? Explain..."

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were stuck completely at the entrance of the church, sitting on the last row of chairs. After what seemed like forever, Naruto almost cried out in joy when he heard the words "You may kiss the bride.". The doors of the church flung open, accompanied by an ordering "Halt!" Everyone turned towards the door to see a large group of battle ready Hyuuga's standing there, including Hinata's parents. "Hinata, you will die tonight!" Hiashi said.

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looks around DUMDUMDUUUUUUUUM

I was going to answer to everyone who reviewed, but the sheer amount for chapter 19 alone is just dizzying. So I'll just say a few general things.

Number one : About people that keep yelling I ripped off 'Training for the Job', please stop it already. We heard you the first three times, and I'm starting to think that some people are just saying it to be part of the crowd... That, or it's the most popular Naruto fanfiction ever. Either way, I see no need to justify myself anymore to you people who insult my writing skills by saying that I ripped off or got most of my ideas from 'Training for the Job'. Unless you wrote that fanfiction, don't bring it up anymore, I understand your willingness to protect that fanfiction, but it's starting to get annoying.

Number two : Many thanks to everyone who reviewed my story, believing I had abandoned it and wishing for me to return to it, but luckily, nothing could be farther from the truth, I spent nearly every free moment of my day hoping to perfect my writing for your enjoyment!


	21. Chapter 21 : but he's her Euw

Something I forgot to mention at the end of the previous chapter (I think) : I already have 39 chapters finished, so be prepared for a lot of updates!

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Chapter 21 : But he's her... Euw.

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Naruto reached for his weapons, only to remember Sakura had forced him to leave them at home. He tried to get up, only to have an arm wrap around his neck and a kunai against his throat. "Where do you think your going, handsome?" The owner of the kunai and arm, a female Hyuuga, said. Naruto sighed and looked around, noticing that all the other ninja in the church had a kunai against their necks, leaving Kiba and Hinata to fight the Hyuuga.

Inside Orochimaru's hideout, the snake sannin stood up and took his Kusagani. "Kabuto, I will leave the hideout in your command, I shall return shortly, with our guests."

Within Akatsuki's cave, Deidera stretched, he was bored out of his skull. Tobi had fallen ill, apparently from his fight with the Kyuubi container, so Deidera was stuck in the hideout until he was ready to go again. It didn't help that everyone had set out to complete the plan to destroy both Orochimaru and his 'guest'. "Ooooh Deidera... I need a glass of water." Tobi whined. Deidera quickly took a glass of water and shoved it into Tobi's mouth, almost choking him.

Naruto got comfortable in his seat, almost ignoring the kunai that dangled dangerously above his throat. "Naruto, this isn't the time to get comfortable! Go help Hinata!" "And miss an awesome Byakugan vs Byakugan fight? Maybe when it takes a turn for the worse." He said, dismissing her with his hand.

Hinata was in trouble and she knew it, she was no match for her father, and Kiba was occupied with her mother and Hanabi. Hiashi and the other Hyuuga clan members were easily overpowering Hinata, and things were looking grim. "Hakke Kuushou!" "Gatsuuga!" Voices cried out into the air. The Hyuuga main clan members were sent flying into several directions as Inuzuka's and their familiars arrived into the scene, together with Hyuuga branch members.

"Oh this is getting good, want some popcorn?" Naruto asked, excited by the events going on in front of him. Sakura rolled her eyes and slapped him on the back of the head. "Go help, now!" She ordered. "I'll pass, they seem to be having fun, and I don't want to take that away from them, besides, these guys are weaker then the average chuunin." "Hey! I resent that!" The girl that kept Naruto 'hostage' said.

Meanwhile, in a ramenstand in Root, Eddie and Kirbie were spending time holding eating contests and reading. "You know, something tells me that by not going to the wedding, we are missing a fight that involves clan betrayel, inbreeding and love." Eddie said. Kirbie sighed before saying "Just read your book, Eddie..." "Not with a goat, not on a boat, not on a train. I do not like these things..." "Too yourself! Too yourself! For a mastertracker, you sure have a strange personality..."

"What in the name of the Third's dandruff is going on in here!?" A voice boomed from the church door. Both Sakura and Naruto gulped when they heard the voice. The fighting stopped as everyone turned to face the owner of the voice. Tsunade tapped her foot on the floor, making small cracks in the ground. "I want everyone in here arrested." She said. Anbu's sped into the church and started to knock everyone out, until only Naruto and Sakura were left. "Alright, alright! We'll come, just don't do the creepy pinch us into sleep thingy."

"This is bad, if things are allowed to continue like this, the Hyuuga clan will destroy itself from inside." The Hokage said, rubbing her temples. "What do you mean?" Sakura asked puzzled from this statement. Jiraiya looked out into Konoha, his legs dangling out of Tsunade's office. "The Hyuuga's bloodline is attained by inbreeding, it is said that the bloodline will be lost if they make children outside of their own clan." He said. Sakura and Naruto shuddered. "Hinata her husband had already been decided, against both parties their will. The fact that it was Neji didn't help." The toad sennin continued. Sakura almost lost her footing as Naruto's face began twitching violently.

"So, how do we solve this?" Naruto asked. Jiraiya scratched his chin "A temporary solution would be trying to negotiate, or put guards at Hinata's house all day." "I got it!" Sakura shouted as she jumped up. "I don't like the sound of that..." Naruto mumbled. "How about they move in with me and Naruto in Root? He can beat anything the Hyuuga send at them." "Suckup..." Jiraiya mumbled under his breath. "We'd have to relocate the entire team, so Shino and Kurenai would most likely be needing a place to stay..." "Sure, we have more then enough room in our house!" Sakura said, lighting a spark in Tsunade's eyes._'Their house, hmmm?'_ She mused. "If they want to, it's fine by me." Naruto said.

Danzou and Hattori fell to their knees in front of a dark figure. "Who are you?" Danzou managed to ask between gasps of air. The figure didn't answer. A snake slithered past Danzou, making realisation hit him. "Orochimaru! Why have you taken us here!?" The bandaged ninja asked. "How would you like to see the Kyuubi container, dead, and Konoha destroyed?" The snake man asked. "I would fight to the death for it!" Danzou screamed. "I care not about Konoha's destruction. But if it has to be done to insure the Kyuubi's death, so be it." Hattori said. "Then do you swear loyalty to me? In return, I shall grant you power!" "I will!" "So shall I!"


	22. Chapter 22 : Harem, huh?

The Rogue Stallion : Well, I wanted to give more people the time to read & review my story, but you have a good point, 5 chapters it is!

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"Are we there yet?" Kiba whined. "For the last god dang time no!" Sakura yelled. Kurenai and Hinata giggled while Naruto just rolled his eyes. "I'm, sorry. It's just that I'm getting tired of all this walking." "Your riding on the back of a giant dog and your complaining about walking?" Shino asked in his usual emotionless tone. This time it was Sakura's turn to giggle.

"Hey Kiba, does Shino ever take his glasses off?" Naruto asked him, making sure Shino didn't hear the question. Kiba thought for a while then shook his head. "Then I'll make it my mission to tear those glasses from his face!" Naruto said as he sped up, moving towards Shino. Pretending to slip, he headed for his glasses, only to have Shino's hand stop his fall by holding his face. "What are you doing?" Shino asked. Naruto panicked and quickly jumped back. "I euhm, tripped, yea, I tripped." He said, flailing his arms around. Shino's eyebrows shot up from under his glasses, but he let it slide and started walking again.

Hidan landed in front of Orochimaru's hideout. "Looks like I'm early... Better get this show on the road." He said as he reeled his scythe back and threw it above the entrance of the hideout, making rocks fall down. "Knock knock."

"Welcome to your new home." Sakura said as she opened the front door of the house. Hinata gasped, Kiba whistled, Kurenai's mouth fell open, and Shino... Poked his glasses up. It didn't take long before everyone had settled in, the extra bedrooms came in handy. Kiba and Hinata had taken the room across Naruto and Sakura's. Kurenai had taken the bedroom next to the stairs, and Shino had taken the attic, which Naruto had turned into a small bedroom.

Naruto and Sakura laid awake in the middle of the night, until Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He burst out of the room and yelled at the top of his lungs "Would you two knock it off already!? It's three in the morning!"

The doorbell went, and seeing how everyone was being lazy, Hinata found herself opening the door for one 'Misao'. "Euhm, hello. I'm here to see Naruto." The woman asked, slightly puzzled who Naruto's new female roommate was, and what happened to his previous girlfriend. "I'm here, I'm here. Sorry Hinata, I was busy." Naruto said as he quickly walked into the hall and escorted Misao into the living room. Sakura and Kurenai had occupied that room, but were quickly ordered out of the room by a glare from Naruto.

"Do you have an entire harem in here or something?" Misao asked. Naruto laughed and shook his head. "I'm supposed to protect the girl that opened the door for you and her husband. When they came to Root, her two friends followed, so now I'm stuck with four extra people in my house." Naruto said. _'He's just like his father, putting the importance of his friends and village above him.'_ Misao mused.

Hidan fell to his knees in front of a dark figure, panting deeply. "How... What are you?" He asked as he clutched one of the many wounds on his body. The man didn't answer, instead he reeled his sword back and brought it down to slice Hidan into two. A flash of hair sped through the area and stopped the sword inches before it hit Hidan. "Leader! You didn't need to help me, I was doing fine!" Hidan said. The Leader ripped the sword out of his opponents hand and pointed it at him. "Who are you?" "What are names except means to number people? But if you really want to know, it's Kaguya Kimimaro." The man said. Hidan and the Leader their faces had shock written all over it. They quickly jumped back. "Retreat!" The Leader yelled.

"How is it possible that he's alive? I thought his illness claimed his life seven years ago?" Hidan asked as they sped through the trees. "I don't know, but if it is what I think it is, Orochimaru has perfected his Edo-Tensei." The Leader replied. "What is our course of action then?" "We make everyone retreat, and we shall only try to attack when Orochimaru is alone, his weakness shall be his downfall."

Naruto landed on top of his house, and fell on his behind. "Who would've thought a simple thing like ripping Shino's glasses off would prove to be so difficult?" Naruto mumbled to himself. "Tried asking?" Kirbie asked as he landed on the rooftop. "Hey guys, a little help?" Eddie asked as he desperately tried to climb on top of the house. Kirbie rolled his eyes. "What are you trying to do? Just jump up here!" "For your information, Kirb, I'm trying to save my chakra." "I'm suprised you don't have an unlimited amount like Naruto, you both sleep longer then the rest of the village combined." Kirbie shot back, who as a result got the bird from Naruto and Eddie.

Naruto walked up to Shino, who was reading a local newspaper in the living room. "Hey Shino, can I ask you something?" Naruto asked. Shino looked up from his newspaper. "Sure." "Well, I was wondering... Why do you always wear glasses?" "You should see my eyes to understand that..." Shino said as he grabbed for his glasses. Naruto's eyes lightened up in anticipation, but what he saw made him think about bringing his lunch out.

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First note : I'm evil for stopping here, huh?

Second note : Yep, I brought Kimimaro back, that guy was the ultimate fighter, and he was only 15!

Third (last one, I swear) note : Shino's eyes is what I **THINK** they look like, this (and most of the things in this fanfiction) are most likely incorrect.


	23. Chapter 23 : I know that look

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Chapter 23 : I know that look...

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Naruto could do nothing but let his mouth hang open and stare. He stared straight into Shino's eyes, or rather, his caskets. Shino didn't have any eyes, Naruto could just stare straight at his skull. Bugs passed over the skull with frightening regularity. "Your probably wondering why I do not have eyes. Eyes are a weakness of the body, you cannot train them, and a single attack to it can take you down. Because of that, the destruction bugs eat the eyes of their host shortly after the birth, using a powerful poison to make him feel nothing. A gore fact that isn't mentioned to others most of the time." The bug user explained. "So your bugs are your eyes?" Naruto asked as he recovered from his shock. Shino gave a nod before asking "Are you alright? You look a bit pale..." "Yea, I'm fine, I just need to get some fresh air." Naruto answered as he made his way outside. As soon as he was outside, he started running into a random direction, screaming and flailing his arms around.

"Tsunade!" Shizune yelled as she burst into the Hokage's office, interrupting a talk between her and Jiraiya. "This better be important, Shizune." Tsunade said, clearly annoyed by the interruption. "Orochimaru has been preparing an army to wipe Root from the face of the earth." "I see..." The fifth said calmly. She took a piece of paper, leaving Jiraiya and Shizune puzzled of how calm she could be at a time like this. She gave the paper to Shizune before ordering "I want all the people on this list to form a group to go and meet Orochimaru's army before they take the battle here."

Meanwhile, Naruto ran past a ramen stand, still flailing his arms around. Both Kirbie and Eddie followed Naruto with their eyes, keeping one eyebrow in danger of dissapearing into their hair. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Kirbie asked when Naruto had faded from their view. Eddie nodded. "Drinking contest!" They said in unision.

Hidan leaned against the cave wall, they made it to the hideout pretty easily, but the wounds didn't stop bleeding, which wasn't a good sign, immortality had it's limits. "Oh, you guys are back." Deidera said as he jumped up. "Get Kakuzu, Hidan needs to be looked at. I have business to attend to." The leader said as he walked into another room of the cave.

Naruto had finally calmed down, he slowly made his way back to his house, wanting to tell Shino he was sorry for his reaction. "Fight me, old man!" A voice yelled from behind Naruto. He ducked under a kick aimed for his head and caught his attacker. "Who the hell are you calling an old man, Konohamaru!?" Naruto asked, shaking the teen around like a milkshake. "Stop shaking me! I'm very delicate!" "Bah, and they call you a ninja." Naruto joked. "I could take you out in a heartbeat!" Konohamaru yelled at him, while trying to make Naruto let go of him.

"T-to-told you I'd win!" Eddie said as he desperately tried to keep his balance on his chair. "Yea, but I'm not in the mood to have a gigantic hangover in the morning, or pay for thirty bottles of sake..." Kirbie grumbled. "Hey, you two!" A voice called from out of the ramen stand. Kirbie and Eddie turned towards the voice, well Eddie tried, but only got halfway before he fell out of his chair. The newcomer was a 'Ne' Anbu. "Whash thes feck dyu wnt?" Eddie asked, still half stunned from his fall. "Kakashi asks the both of you to come to his office." The ANBU responded, dissapearing as he finished the sentence.

A knock on the door made Naruto snap to attention, and blink. "Ha! You blinked! I win!" Konohamaru yelled excited. "Darn it all!" Naruto yelled back. He ran towards the door and flung it open, coming face to face with an anbu. "What?" Naruto snarled, mad because he lost the staring contest with Konohamaru. The ANBU gave Naruto two letters with names on them. Naruto closed the door on the ANBU's face, nearly splintering his mask. Naruto looked at the letters._'Shino and Kurenai? I wonder what's inside them.'_

Kirbie burst into Kakashi's office, dragging a drunk Eddie by his leg behind him. "About time you guys arrived." "I took the rocky path..." Kirbie answered as he let go of Eddie's leg. "You may or may not know that Sound is preparing to launch a large scale attack on Root. Tsunade has sent out a list of people who will go and stop the army before they leave. You two are part of it." "How much does it pay?" Eddie asked as he rubbed his face. "We'll do it, but only if we can lead the army." Kirbie said. "Sure, we have a deal. You leave tomorrow morning from the east gate. Gai will fill you in on the details during the trip." Kakashi responded. Kirbie nodded, jumped up and walked towards the exit. "My face feels like I was dragged over a rocky path... Do you have anything to do with that?" Eddie asked once he had gotten up and caught up with Kirbie. "Nope."

"Looks like were going to war, Shino." Kurenai said once she scanned her letter. Shino just shrugged. "Aw phooey, I don't get to go?" Naruto sulked. "You don't want to be alone with me?" Sakura purred in his ear. "We're not going either..." Kiba said. Sakura cursed under her breath, why did she have to bring up the idea of them moving in? An idea crossed her mind, she would get rid of her guests for a day and make it a day Naruto would never forget.

Sakura knocked on the front door of a small house, nicely placed between a bar and a restaurant. Sasuke opened the door, and immediantly his eyebrows touched the sky. "I know that look, your up to something..." He said as he pointed towards Sakura, his hand shaking wildly. Sakura just kept grinning, her grin seeming fox like. "Could you play bodyguard for Kiba and Hinata tomorrow? I want some time alone with Naruto." She said, the grin dissapearing to make way for a puppy look. "Not the puppy look! Oh fine! But just for one day!" Sasuke said, sighing and cursing whoever invented that look.

Sakura grinned, she just had to do one more thing before she had her day with Naruto completely planned out. She turned into a small sidestreet, leading into the redlight district. A feeling that she was being undressed by thousands of eyes overwashed her. She increased her pace, she didn't want to have to punch someone in the ribs. She stopped in front of a pink painted building, with pink shaded curtains at the windows.

She walked into the building, and it seemed as everyone turned to face the new arrival. Sakura stepped up to the counter. "I'm sorry, we're not looking for employees right now." The woman behind the counter said. "I'm not looking for work..." Sakura responded, resisting the urge to punch the woman in the face. "Oh, my apoligies. But we do not serve women." "How bout I tell you what I need?" The pink haired kunoichi said, quickly taking a list of things and giving it to the woman, hoping to spare herself from any further mistakes. The woman whistled. "You sure know your stuff. Give me a minute."

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Yea, this chapter was a setup for two things : Fluff (how the fish do you spell that?) and Eddie and Kirbie finally getting to fight... And probably get their asses kicked.


	24. Chapter 24 : Worst start of the day ever

Alright, let's do this! cracks fingers fingers break Damn it!

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Chapter 24 : Not how I want to start my day...

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Sakura left the building carrying two bags. She wanted to get out of here before she ran into someone she knew, like Jiraiya. She shuddered at the thought of meeting him in the red light district. She quickly turned into a sidestreet, leading out to one of the main streets of Root.

Kirbie yawned, it was two in the morning and Gai had already forced him and Eddie out to wait for the troops at the gate. Gai was doing pushups infront of the gate, while Eddie had fallen asleep against a tree trunk. Lee joined them after half an hour of waiting, only to get yelled at by Gai, and forced to do one thousand pushups. During one of Gai's lectures, Kirbie jumped into an overgrown tree and tried to get some sleep.

At six in the morning, Sakura literally dragged Hinata and Kiba out of the house and dropped them off at Sasuke. "I wonder what all that was about..." Hinata asked once Sakura had dashed off towards her house. "I think Naruto is going to get lucky, if you know what I mean." Kiba responded with a wink and some perverted gestures. Hinata started blushing when he did, and Sasuke just slapped his forehead.

By eight in the morning, the entire army had moved out, suprisingly towards Konoha. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Orochimaru's hideout was to the southeast, not east?" Kirbie asked as the army sped through the forest. "We are going to meet up with a large force sent by Konoha at a landmark between Konoha and Root. Then we shall travel south, towards Orochimaru's hideout." Kurenai responded as she caught up with Kirbie.

Nine figures walked out of the woods near Konoha, each wearing a bamboo hat and a black cloak with red clouds. They walked up to the gate, and saw the guards flee. The group casually walked through the gates, forming a single line, which people seemed to avoid. The sound of their footsteps was the only hearable sound, until a thud became hearable. The group stopped walking and instead stared into the eyes of the hokage of Konoha. "Akatsuki." The woman snorted. Seven of the men took their hats off, but kept them in their hands. "Are you here to destroy Konoha during our moment of weakness?" "You know, not a bad idea... But no, we're here to negotiate." Hidan said, making Tsunade stare in confusement.

Naruto awoke to an unusual smell. The soothing smell from an aromic candle. Naruto opened a single eye and found himself looking right at the candle that woke him up. He tried to get up, only to find out he was tied to the bed. "Recap, I've been tied down my bed with my stomach down, apparently naked, and I have a gigantic itch on my nose... This is not how I want to start my day..." Naruto mumbled.

Kirbie and Eddie poked their heads out of a bush growing in the woods near Orochimaru's lair. In a quick flash, they were standing at the sides of the entrance, peeking into the dark hallway. "I'm so delighted you were able to make it, Kirbie." A voice said from behind the two. They spun their heads around to see Orochimaru look straight at them, behind him a large group of ninja. They sighed and took a number of steps towards their opponents. "So much for just scouting." Kirbie sighed as he and Eddie fell into fighting stances. "Kill them." Orochimaru said calmly as he dissapeared.

Kirbie and Eddie stood back to back while their opponents surrounded them. They took a kunai in each hand, twirling them around from time to time. "You think you'll be ok, Kirb?" "Well, might be tough if one more shows up." "then that'll have to be the one I take care off." "What, your fighting to?" Kirbie shot back while turning his head towards Eddie, shortly after three ninja's rushed forward, hoping to catch him off guard. Kirbie parried the first attack and kicked his second attacker in the stomach, sending him flying back to his allies. He was unprepared for the third attack, but help came in the form of Eddie as he backhanded the last assaulter. "This could take a while..." Eddie mumbled as the enemies kept advancing at them in small groups.

Naruto had tried to get to break the ropes with which he was tied to the bed in multiple ways. It seemed to be immune to his wind chakra, and when he tried to move he found out that a piece of sharp string was prepared to cut the flesh from his arms if he moved to much. This was the work of a proffesional alright... The door swung open. Naruto turned towards the door and swallowed a number of times when he saw Sakura standing in the doorway, with a whip in her hand. "This is like a teenage dream gone wrong..."

"Nine dead bodies on the ground, nine dead bodies..." Eddie chanted as another opponent fell for his kunais. "Shut up already, it doesn't even rhyme." Kirbie huffed. "Alright, time to finish this then." Eddie said. Kirbie nodded and they both jumped into the air while preforming handseals. "Katon! Goukakyuu no jutsu!" Eddie exclaimed. "So, how are things with you and that girl from yesterday?" Kirbie asked before mimicking Eddie's attack. Eddie nearly swallowed his fireball, but managed to shoot it at his opponents before it burned his insides. "Not the right time, Kirbie!" Eddie yelled as they landed back on the ground. Kirbie just grinned in response and looked around. All their opponents had either been burned or had fled. "Heh, Orochimaru must've sent rookies after us..." Kirbie said as he stretched.

"I do not think I belong in that category." A voice called out from the left. Eddie and Kirbie turned to the left just in time to see a man run towards them. "Kaguya Kimimaro!" Kirbie yelled as he and Eddie jumped back. Kimimaro grinned and sped up, pulling a bone sword out of his shoulder. He swiped the sword at Kirbie's head, but found his arm immobile, inches above his face. Eddie had, luckily for Kirbie, grabbed his opponent's arm, although it seemed like he could collapse any minute from the force. Kirbie took the bone sword and threw it towards Kimimaro.

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resists the temptation to write a KH fanfic and presses the post button

Three cliffhangers? I'm getting more evil by the day...

Not satisfied with this chapter... Maybe i'm being to harsh on myself...


	25. Chapter 25: Title blocked

Remember, all reviews, positive and negative are appreciated.

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Chapter 25 : Don't make me think of any more titles...

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Both Kirbie and Eddie stared in disbelief at what happened. The bone seemed to break itself apart in midair, and fly back into Kimimaro's shoulder. Before they could even run, Kimimaro picked them both up and slammed their heads together, knocking them out. He grabbed their legs and started dragging through the forest, away from the hideout.

A number of miles to the north, the army had put up camp until Eddie and Kirbie returned from their scouting mission. Kenshin threw more sticks on the fire, trying his best to keep it alive. "I still don't get why we have to get the firewood." Sano mumbled as he started pounding on a tree. An axe imbedded itself on the tree, near Sano's head. "Use that, dumbass." Saitoh said calmly. Sano cursed under his breath as he pulled the axe out and began to chop at the tree. Kenshin sighed at their bickering and turned back towards the fire. He failed to notice the kunai coming in from behind him, as it flew over his shoulder and into the fire. He was about to grab his katana and spin around, when he noticed there was a small leather bag hanging from the end of the kunai. Realisation swept over him and he brought up his arms towards his face, right before the fire exploded and sent him crashing into a nearby tree.

"Kenshin!" Sano yelled as he dashed towards his friend, while Saitoh went to inspect the fire. However, he never got the chance to get a good look at it. "Charge!" A voice cried out, followed by hundreds of battlecries and ninja's attacking the camp. "Aw crud." Saitoh and Sano mumbled at the same time. Sano quickly flung Kenshin over his shoulder and ran towards the medic, his retreat covered by the various ninja flooding out of their tents towards the opposition.

Kirbie rubbed the bump on his head as he woke up, trying to remember how he got it. The pieces came together in the dusty cave he called his head and he jumped up, and instantly fell down again. He rubbed his head and opened his eyes, noticing he was in a small cave, together with Eddie. The cave was just deep enough for two or three people to lay in, but not high enough to sit. "What happened?" Kirbie asked as he slammed the top of the cave, making dust fall into his eyes. "When your done cursing at the ceiling, I'll tell you. After we put our heads together, Kimimaro dragged us towards a cliff, and chugged us in. Luckily, I awoke and managed to grab onto the side and drag you in here. Here comes the bad part, Kimimaro is out there and waiting for us to show our faces, playing some sort of waiting game." Kirbie said, panting slightly after that huge explanation. Kirbie poked his head out of the hole, and there he was, waiting for them at the top of the cliff.

Tsunade leant back into her chair, she had just completed the negotiations with Akatsuki, and they had left to complete their part of the deal. She sighed, this was getting to much for her to handle on her own. The First had his brother to help, the Third learned from both of those and the Fourth had the Third to help him, but who did she have? Perhaps she should learn from the past, and appoint a Sixth hokage to help her, but who? She didn't wanna be stuck with Jiraiya for days. She would probably end up pulling Kakashi's mask down from frustration, ruining his image. Gai was, disturbing. Asuma would end up burning half the files with his constant smoking and Kurenai didn't have the right qualities. Ebisu was a closet pervert, at least that's what Naruto kept telling her.

Naruto... Well, even though his dream was to become Hokage, she couldn't make him one yet. He was young, and becoming the Hokage was basically giving up your personal life. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't bring herself to do that, at least, not until he had settled down. All of a sudden, the door burst open, almost being torn out of its hinges, as Shikamaru ran into the room. Tsunade sighed, another ruined door, this was probably bad. "Tsunade! Your not going to like this!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "It must be really bad for you to be so upset..." She mumbled her response. "The council has decided that Naruto has to be under ANBU guard around the clock, and he is to avoid public areas as much as possible. Now, before you go on a rampa---" "Those old geezers think they can take away Naruto's freedom and the chance he has to settle down!? Over my dead, frozen and buried body!" The Hokage yelled as she ran out of the room. "A lot of blood is going to be spilled..." Shikamaru mumbled as he chased after Tsunade.

Naruto cursed. Luckily Sakura had left to get something before she 'punished' him, but now, he had to find a way out. His eyes scanned the room multiple times, but he failed to find a way out that was failproof. _**'Need a hand?'**_ Kyuubi growled inside Naruto's head. _'And where the hell have you been?'_ Naruto asked. _**'I like Sakura's mind better, no dank, empty hallways there, but a meadow.'**__ 'In other words, there are some frisky kitsunes running around?' __**'That's beside the point! Do you want my help or not?'**__ 'Alright, alright, what do I do?' __**'Did you forget that Shizune forced you to hide some needles under your tongue, in cases like these? If your head wasn't stuck to your neck, you'd lose it...'**_Kyuubi mumbled as he turned around, finishing the conversation. Naruto felt under his tongue, and sure enough, he found a couple of short, but very sharp needles. _'How the hell did I get those in there without cutting my tongue?'_ He asked the Kyuubi as he took one between his teeth with a number of tongue movements and brought the needle near the rope, slowly but surely cutting through them.

Kimimaro sighed, the blundering duo were still in that cave, and he wasn't in the mood to go get them, so he decided to see who could wait the longest. The long waiting was interrupted when Kimimaro felt a small stone slam into the back of his head. He spun around, sneering, only to see somebody leaning against a tree with another stone in his hand. "Who the heck are you and what do you want?" Kimimaro growled as he took his bone sword. The man stepped forward, revealing his original shaped mask. "Akatsuki member, Tobi, and I want those two in the cave, alive."

Orochimaru stood on top of a hill overlooking Root, by his side was Kabuto. "See Kabuto? The plan worked. While our pawns are destroying the Konoha/Root army, we shall burn Root to the ground, in it's time of weakness." "So, that was your plan." A voice said from behind the duo. Kabuto spun around while Orochimaru took his time, and stared straight into a pair of red eyes. "Well well, Itachi, Kisame, what brings you here?" The snakeman asked, calm as ever. "We thought this would be a good time to kill you, since your bodyguards are still in Sound." Kisame snorted. Without warning a man appeared in front of Kisame and punched him in the gut, then withdrew to Orochimaru's side. "I'd like you to meet my newest bodyguard, Haruno Hattori."

After minutes of cutting, Naruto was finally free. He scanned the room once more, seeing nothing he could use as a weapon or as clothing. In desperation, he took one of the needles in his right hand, and used a pillow to hide his privates as he ran out of the bedroom. When he made it too the stairs, he saw Sakura behind the corner, reading something. "Sakura! What has happened to you!?" Naruto yelled, tightening his grip around the needle and the pillow. Sakura turned around and just started laughing.

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Phew, lots of cliffhangers here, huh?

AnkokuSama : Thank you for the compliments, I do my best at entertaining the readers. And about Naruto's mother... Well, sometimes people do strange things.

Android84 : Hope it didn't give you a lasting trauma, but I suggest you keep reading, even if it creeps you out!


	26. Chapter 26: What kind of plan was that?

Something that I forgot to mention, I need a new summary for my story, so if anyone thinks of one, be sure to let me know!

It's funny, ever since I started re-updating this, writing chapter 40 has been easier. I believe the reviews you guys have given me have been motivating me, many thanks and keep them coming!

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Chapter 26 : God I'm bad at titles...

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"If you want em, you'll have to fight for them!" Kimimaro yelled, wasting no time and running straight at Tobi, swiping at his head. Tobi ducked under it and slammed the palm of his hand into Kimimaro's chin, sending him crashing into a small rock formation. Meanwhile, near the cliff, someone dropped a rope into the cliff for Kirbie and Eddie. After a lot of cursing and getting stuck, they finally made it up the cliff. "Thanks for the rope, saves us a whole lot of chakra." Kirbie mumbled as he looked at the rope thrower. "Deidera!? Tobi!? Why are you guys helping us?" "That doesn't matter. Our main concern is the army. Tobi is enough for Kimimaro." "Then at least tell me how the hell you can be alive!" Eddie yelled, clearly frustrated. "Let's just say I have a good medic."

Saitoh fell to his knees, a gash running over his chest.. Was there no end to them? It seemed like an endless amount of reinforcements kept coming from the woods. He leant on his katana and staggered to his feet. The wound itself was no problem, the bloodloss however made him feel weak. Despite the weakening, he managed to bring his katana over his head in time to block a hostile attack. Though he was unable to muster enough force to block the kunai flying towards his neck. Blood gushed out of the wound the kunai made, as the warrior collapsed, lifeless.

Sanosuke kicked another ninja in the face, snapping his neck. He and a number of others had taken a defensive position around the remaining tents. He couldn't help but look over to the medic tent every once in a while. "Kenshin..."

The medic sighed. The man in front of him should make it, but it was doubtful if he would ever be able to hold a sword again. He had heavy burns on his hands and arms. The medic ran through his file. _'A retired samurai? And a seasoned one too.' _The medic thought. The medic turned to leave, but was stopped when he heard shuffling of the blankets. "Your awake!" The man yelped as he turned to view the samurai sitting up and examining his burns. The samurai didn't respond, instead he wrapped his arms and took his katana, then walked towards the exit, terribly weakened. "Wait! Your not supposed to use your hands!"

In a small clearing near the camp, Hidan was drawing another one of his circles. "Are you done yet?" Kakuzu asked as he looked at the fighting going on. "Ten more minutes." "They won't last that long!" "Fine, then go help." "And get backstabbed by those Konoha scumbags? I'd rathe--- What the!?" Kakuzu exclaimed as he stared at the fight.

Everyone stopped fighting and stared at the man that came out of the medic tent. The hand that grasped his sheath shook wildly. He drew his katana, which in turn made his other hand shake too. The katana fell too the ground, which made the opposing ninja's laugh. "Kenshin!" Sano yelled as he arrived by the man's side, only to be pushed back by said man. Kenshin grasped the katana once more and ripped it out of the ground, sending chunks of earth flying towards unlucky sound ninja. Not wasting a second, he charged forward, ignoring the searing pain in his hands.

"Homura! Koharu!" Tsunade yelled as she reached the top floor of the administration building, where Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, part of the village council resided. The entire floor was a single room that looked like a small house, Tsunade let her eyes roam the room as she looked for the two council members. "What is with all the racket, Tsunade?" Koharu asked as she and Homura walked in from the balcony, only to have fists flying at their faces. They caught both of Tsunade's fists like they were sent at them at a snail's pace. "I will not allow you to rob Naruto from the live he deserves!" "Be reasonable Tsunade, he is to dangerous to roam around!" Homura responded as he pushed Tsunade back to create some distance. "Besides, Naruto's personal life wouldn't suffer from it, they would just watch him from far away, or is there another reason?" Koharu continued. "That's none of your concern! But listen and listen well, if I see even one ANBU shadowing Naruto I shall end both of your lives!" It wasn't normal for Tsunade to threaten people, but when she did, she meant it! She stomped off, leaving the two alone.

"Well, isn't this our luck, one of the two men we have to bring back alive." Itachi said calmly, not even bothering to help Kisame up. "I have no interest of going back, ever." Hattori said as he lunged at Itachi who sidestepped the attack and punched Hattori in the face as he passed him. "It appears Orochimaru and Kabuto have escaped, follow and kill them, Kisame." Itachi said as he dashed after Hattori, kicking him in the gut which as a result sent him flying towards Root. Kisame nodded and ran after them while Itachi slowly made his way towards Root, and his opponent.

"What's so funny!?" Naruto spat. "I can't believe Ino's plan worked!" Sakura laughed even harder. "Ino's plan? What are you babbling about?" Naruto asked, still mad. "Relax Naruto, it was all an act, I borrowed the whip from Ino. I'm not into that sort of thing, and by the look on your face, your not either." She explained, giggling at the look on Naruto's face. She tossed him a bottle and a towel. "I was getting ready to preform the second part of the plan, but seeing as you escaped, somehow, I guess you better see for yourself." Sakura said as she turned around, giving Naruto the privacy to drop the pillow and put the towel around his waist. He examined the bottle. "Massage oil?" He mumbled. Sakura turned around and nodded. "No whips involved?" Sakura shook her head. "Let's go then!" Naruto said, spinning around on his heel and dashing towards the bedroom. Sakura laughed, took some additional bottles and darted after Naruto.

"You can come out now, unless your scared." Tobi said calmly. Kimimaro dropped out of a tree staring at Tobi from a crouching position. "Your kneeling already? I thought you would at least put up a fight." Tobi said, laughing at his own joke. Kimimaro lunged at Tobi, only to have the attack sidestepped, and a knee contacting with his gut, sending him reeling to the edge of the cliff. _'There's gotta be a way to beat this guy... What did lord Orochimaru say about them...'_

Orochimaru sped up his pace. So his plan to attack Root failed, but Konoha wasn't out of the question yet. Kabuto had stayed behind to stop Kisame from catching up to the snake sannin. Quite frankly, Orochimaru had no more use for Kabuto, so this was the perfect way to get rid of him and make his demise useful. Kunai's rained out of the sky, but each missed as Orochimaru used his snake like body structure to dodge them. "You haven't improved as much as I hoped, Orochimaru." A woman said as she jumped out of a tree. "Ah, the legendary right hand of The Leader. This is perfect, I'll kill you, take your ring and be able to stop Akatsuki once more." Orochimaru said as he licked his lips. "Don't flatter yourself."

Kyuubi was going out of his mind! He was forced to see Naruto laying on his stomach, naked, while a certain pink haired Kunoichi was sitting on the lower part of his back, giving him a massage. Now, that wasn't the reason Kyuubi was nuts. The fact Sakura had stripped down to her underwear before starting the massage, and Naruto didn't even notice, was.

Sakura was forced to use all her willpower in order to keep her thoughts of Naruto clean. Stupid hormones were starting to get the better of her. And quite frankly, she didn't like to say no to them. _**'Would you stop thinking about Naruto naked!? It's bad enough I had to watch him go to the bathroom the last nineteen years!'**_A voice, which she knew was the Kyuubi, boomed in her head. '_If you don't like it, move out.' __**'As much as I enjoy Naruto's view of the pillow, I'd rather see something...' **_Sakura rolled her eyes, and turned towards the bottles. _**'Digestible massage oil? I don't want to see this...'**_ Sakura sighed under her breath. "Naruto... Turn around please."

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Stephen : Yes, the Eddie/Kirbie moments are possibly my favourite part of writing the story. (next to writing Kyuubi's moments, of course) And as for a funny Itachi comment? Well, just wait and see! (damn it, now I'm putting cliffhangers in my responds to reviews!?) Thank you for the kind words, and happy birthday!

Narutokyubi9 : Why wouldn't they know what a church is:?


	27. Chapter 27 : Turn around

Still looking for a new summary, all ideas will be much appreciated.

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Chapter 27 : Turn around.

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Kenshin rushed through the opposition, cutting men down as he moved to fast for any of his opponents to follow. He stopped in the middle of the group and flicked his katana, cleaning it from most blood. The opposition thought this was a moment of weakness, and attacked him with all they had. Kunai, katanas and even fists flew his way.

"Stop standing there and help him for crying out loud!" Sano yelled as he charged forward, followed by the other ninja. He punched straight through one of his opponents, making him fall limp on his arm. Not bothering to withdraw his arm, he kicked another one across the face, sending him twirling over the battlefield.

"Five more minutes." Hidan said, annoyed by Kakuzu's constant questioning. "I doubt those guys will last that long, their opponents just keep getting more backup." "You already said that, now let me do what I'm good at, unless you want to be victim of an 'accidental' mistake." Hidan threatened, not even bothering to look around when he heard three thuds behind him. "All you two do is fight, I really wonder why the both of you haven't killed eachother yet." Deidera said, letting a girn broad his face. "I tried." Kakuzu responded with a grunt. Eddie and Kirbie looked a little uncomfortable, with Deidera, they had a chance of winning in the sudden event he turned on them, but three of em? "Yea, yea, very funny, but while you and Tobi were off doing god knows what, we were busy saving him and his friends, still are." Hidan pointed towards Saitoh, who laid against a tree, barely breathing. Kirbie instantly ran too the man's side, examining his wounds. Eddie balled his fists and without making a sound, jumped into the fray.

"You want a piece of this!?" Eddie yelled, ducking under a swipe from an axe and delivering a powerful kick in the gut of the axe wielder, followed by a single slice over his opponent's unguarded neck. A thud right behind him indicated Kirbie's arrival. "Took you long enough." Eddie joked as he grabbed the katana-wielding wrist of another opponent and snapped it, letting the katana drop to the ground. Eddie took the katana and stuck it through his opponent's face. He twisted the weapon and withdrew it, shaking the blood and pieces of brain off with a flick of the wrist.

Kirbie viewed past his opponents and saw Kenshin, terribly outnumbered, trying his best to hold his hands steady and fight off all opponents. "Hey Eddie, hang on tight!" Kirbie yelled as he grabbed Eddie by his shirt and threw the now screaming man towards Kenshin. "I'll get him for that." Eddie mumbled when he had landed, instantly jumping up and moving towards Kenshin's aid.

Kimimaro touched his lips, feeling the warm blood that trickled out of his mouth. He was still cornered, stuck between a cliff and a childish warrior. There was no way for him to beat said warrior, so he might as well drag his opponent along. He ripped his spine out of his back and wrapped it around Tobi. "You know what a fall like this does to a person's body?" Kimimaro asked as he gazed over the edge off the cliff. "Euhm, squish?" Tobi asked, puzzled over the sudden question. "Bingo." Kimimaro responded as he leapt over the edge, taking his prisoner with him.

A cube-like barrier of pure blue chakra shot up, trapping Orochimaru and the Akatsuki member in it. "So, your pet must be close, so much for using chakra." Orochimaru said in his calm, controlled way. Maria, Orochimaru was almost sure that wasn't her real name, was known for travelling together with a ninja that had... Unique abilities. He was able to form barriers and absorb all molded chakra used inside them, making ninjutsu and genjutsu practically worthless. This combined with the fact that Maria was a taijutsu expert, made them the second most dangerous team in Akatsuki.

Naruto swallowed slowly, replaying the sentence in his head again and again and again. "E-e-excuse me?" Naruto stammered. "Could you turn around, please?" Sakura repeated in the sweetest voice she could muster, ignoring the urge to whack him around. Naruto nodded but before he was able to turn, he heard a crack. Before either of them could question the sound, another crack errupted, shortly followed by something breaking the wall and flying across the bedroom, coming at a halt against the wall on the other side of the room. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the Akatsuki cloak, not bothering to look at the other individual. "D-dad?" Sakura stuttered, staring wide eyed at the second individual. Hattori stared back at Sakura, forgetting all about the man that tackled him. Now, there are a couple of things a dad doesn't want to see. One is your daughter getting low grades, another is seeing her sitting halfnude on a naked man who you want dead.

Tsunade cursed, a lot. Word had finally travelled to the Earth Country that Naruto killed some Rock ANBU's who were in the Fire Country 'for a recon mission'. A letter had now arrived, saying that if the Fire Country did not deliver Uzumaki Naruto to them for execution, they would wage war on them. Tsunade knew this was just an excuse, and that Root would most likely be destroyed first in the war. She had a small amount of options. She could fake Naruto's death in a fight with the Akatsuki, but the Rock would find out. She could ask Akatsuki to kill the Tsuchikage, but she doubted if they would agree on something like that. "Tsunade? There is someone here for you." Shikamaru said as he opened the door, revealing himself and the visitor. "Nijikage? What are you doing all the way out here?" Tsunade asked suprised.

"I'm done!" Hidan exclaimed. He stood up, withdrew a kunai from his pouch and stabbed himself in the chest. On the battlefield, all of the Sound ninja collapsed, and blood started to flow out of their chest. "I never get used to that..." Kakuzu said, before his eyes darted to the sky, towards a strange phenomena. Meteors were raining out of the sky by hundreds, all seemingly centered in three locations, and they were going to hit soon. "What in Kami's name?" Hidan asked as his eyes also landed on the meteors.

Maria her eyes turned away from the slumped over body that was Orochimaru, mocking his very existence. "You haven't been practicing your taijutsu, snakey?" The woman said in a mocking tone, while adjusting her bamboo hat. A short scream entered the air, after which the cube slowly faded away. Danzou landed in front of Orochimaru, holding a katana up in a defensive stance. "We'll be leaving now, and it would be unwise of you to come after us while your companion's life is on the line." Danzou said, throwing a smokebomb. As the smoke cleared, Maria ran out of the clearing.

Tobi was calm. Well, as calm as someone tangled in a spine, falling from a cliff can be. The meteors had also entered his sight, but he was a bit to busy with trying to escape to think about that. An idea popped into his head and he banged the backside of his head against Kimimaro's nose, hoping to send the bone flying into his brains. No such luck, Kimimaro tightened his hold on the spine. Another idea popped up into the masked head of Tobi, and he attempted moving his arms together, ignoring the pain as the spine tightened when he moved his arms. He moved his hands together to form the ram seal and whispered "Kurokai." Kimimaro's eyes widened in shock as his surroundings faded away, and the contents of his spine dissapeared. After merely seconds, Kimimaro hit something hard, and found his consciousness slipping out of his grasp.

Three ANBU stood in front of Tsunade and the Nijikage, their heads were protected from view by a mask and hood. "Thank you for coming on such short notice, the reason I have called you here is simple, you three are going to assasinate the Tsuchikage."

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'Kurokai' Bad translation of 'World of Dark'.

'Nijikage' Rainbow Shadow.

God, those other fanfiction ideas (one kingdom hearts, one crossover Naruto and one female Kyuubi) are driving me insane! I wonder if I should start working on one of them already...

Bleachfan#1 : Huh, yea, your going to have to wait a liiiiiiitle bit longer.

Colin12345 : Euhm, I'm not sure what you mean, but are you talking about the forum where I've already posted 39 chapters?

Nocturne del Shadow : I see your point, and I thank you for the advice, I'll be sure to change that in the future! I guess I never really paid that much attention to my opening line, silly me. (that, and I didn't have a lot of experience at it)

DemonicLove555 : Hahaha, glad to see you like what you've read, and I'll try to check your stories out when I can find the time.


	28. Chapter 28 : Ruined lovemaking?

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Chapter 28 : Ruined lovemaking?

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The ANBU flinched, Assasinate someone as important as the Tsuchikage? "I know what your thinking, but there's no other way. The Tsuchikage threatens with war if we do not deliver Naruto." "But still, won't he have told anyone?" one of the ANBU asked. "The Tsuchikage is untrusty by nature, he never trusts anyone with his plans." Tsunade responded. "The Tsuchikage may be an old man, but a face-to-face fight is to dangerous, and we need to make this look like an accident." The Nijikage spoke up. "Not to mention his security, getting in unnoticed will be nearly impossible." The shortest ANBU, a woman, spoke up. Tsunade nodded while the Nijikage took a bag and threw it on the desk. "In there, you will find three standard Rainbow ANBU outfits, you'll be needing these for the infiltration."

Tobi landed next to a large dust cloud at the bottom of the cliff. "Let's see, Konoha is north from here, so that's... That way!" Tobi said as he pointed to the south, shortly afterwards taking off in said direction. He failed however, to see the figure moving inside the dust cloud.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Maria asked, taking a couple of steps back to give her partner some breathing space. Her ally nodded simply, and made to stand up, only to fall back down with a painful sounding thud. The woman sighed. "This is gonna take a while."

"So, what do we do now?" Kakuzu asked as the army started to pack up and march back to Konoha. "We wait until they're gone, then we split up. I'm gonna go look at those meteors, you and Hidan go see if there's anyone important left in Orochimaru's base." Deidera said. The duo nodded, mainly because they wanted to kill some people.

Hattori slammed Itachi into the wall and put both his feet against his chest before launching himself at Naruto. Itachi grabbed Hattori by his ankle and pulled him back, then punched him in the face as he passed. Naruto jumped off the bed, wrapping a towel around his waist in the progress. He landed in front of Itachi and instantly took a fighting stance. Itachi blinked a couple of times. "I took the wrong house to slam someone into." He said with a sigh.

"The plan is rather simple. The Tsuchikage is holding a party for all the kage with the exception of me and the Kazekage on the day of the deadline Tsuchikage has set for Naruto's deliverance. You will go along with the Nijikage to the party as his escorts, but once inside the palace, you will split up, and do the usual preperations before assasination." Tsunade explained. "But how do we kill him?" "You have a lot of options, though personally, I advise mind controlling his nurse and giving him an injection of air. I believe you know enough, get changed. You will meet the Nijikage at the western exit. Dismissed!" Tsunade said, after which the ANBU jumped out of the window with their change of clothes.

"Shouldn't we tell them about the second team?" The Nijikage asked. Tsunade shook her head "That would just pressure them. Speaking of which, who is the kid you are sending with the team?" "He's a good kid, although he can't stay serious for long." "Great, he'll fit in with the other two then."

"Achoo!" Two voices chimed above the retreating forces of Konoha. "Kirbie?" "I don't wanna hear it, Eddie." "Somebody must've been talking about us." "I think you should go die somewhere..."

Itachi slung Hattori over his shoulder. "Any chance your going to let me pass?" He asked. "Let my father go!" Sakura yelled as she punched Itachi in the face, sending him reeling into the wall. "Father? Great, now this too." Itachi said. He got up and calmly brushed himself off. "I got no business with either of you." He said. "Well we have business with you!" Sakura said as she pointed an accusing finger at the man, while trying to cover herself up with the other one. "Look I just wanna get out of here, and not get in any more trouble." "You don't wanna capture me anymore?" Naruto asked, confused. "It's not worth the effort anymore, especially after the Kyuubi was split into two." "You know about that!?" Sakura asked shocked. "Yes, now, will you let me go?" "What's the rush?" Naruto asked, blocking Itachi's only way out. "Four reasons. One, I wanna get this guy into custody as soon as possible. Two, I don't wanna be around here when the place is getting swamped with ANBU. Three, I'm pretty sure that between now and five minutes, I'm gonna be staring right into Sasuke's sharingan if I'm still here. And lastly, the boy's towel isn't hiding what he meant it to hide." Naruto's face turned beatred as he adjusted the towel. When he looked back up, Itachi was gone. "I hate it when they do that."

The Leader stood in front of a vast swamp, surrounded by forest, awaiting something. He picked up a large rock, and threw it into the swamp. Ten seconds passed before a huge snake arose from the swamp, it's skin glinstering red from blood, it's breath so vile it killed small creatures and plants. Eight long tails sprouted from the snake's body, each whipping around dangerously. The Leader tipped his head to the snake in a polite manner. "Hello, Eight Tails." The Eight Tails hissed, locking eyes with the Leader. "So, you've come to attempt and capture me again?" "Basically, yea." The Leader said calmly as he bit his thumb and ran through some handseals. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Orochimaru clutched his stomach as more pain soared through it. "Damn that woman and her taijutsu." Orochimaru mumbled, leaning against a tree to keep up right. He and Danzou were currently resting in a clearing, not more then some miles from where they left Maria. "My dear Orochimaru, losing you cool?" A voice echo'd through the clearing, shortly before a snake fell out of a tree and bit Danzou. "I have a message for you." The voice said. "I'm suprised your not in severe pain right now." Orochimaru replied calmly as Danzou tried to get the snake out. A hand moved over Orochimaru's mouth, while a kunai slightly poked him in his neck. "Don't bother with the snake, Danzou, the poison has already spread through your body." The person said, tightening the hold on Orochimaru. Danzou stared in shock at the person. "Mitarashi Anko?" He asked in a mix of confusion and worry. "So, Orochimaru, here's the message. 'I will be coming for you soon, prepare for death.'" Anko said in a rather creepy voice. Before Orochimaru was even done processing the words, Anko threw a smoke bomb and fled. "The nerve of that woman, she only paralyzed me..." Danzou mumbled as he fell limp.

Kiba, Hinata, Sasuke and some ANBU were gathered in front of Naruto and Sakura, who hadn't even had the chance to put some clothes on. Naruto had managed to find and put a bathrobe on, while Sakura covered herself with her clothes. "So, lemme get this straight... Itachi didn't even WANT to capture you?" Kiba asked. "Yea, he was more interested in my dad then in Naruto... What would he want with him anyway?" Sakura asked, seeking answers with the ANBU. The ANBU flinched and started scanning the newest edition of their bingo book. "Your father, Haruno Hattori, became an S-ranked criminal, and Orochimaru's left hand man not long ago." One of the ANBU responded, handing Sakura his bingo book. "... Why?" Sakura asked herself, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "It might've been..." Sasuke trailed of as he locked eyes with Naruto, who almost instantly cast his eyes downwards. "We'll go look for them." The ANBU said, dissapearing into thin air. "We should be getting back to..." Sasuke said as he left, followed by Kiba. "Euhm... Sakura... Congratulations!" Hinata said, her face beatred, before she quickly ran off. "What did she mean by that?" Naruto asked. _**"I'll tell you what she meant, your sacred area is showing, meatbag." **_Kyuubi's voice echo'd in both Sakura's and Naruto's head. Both of their eyes were drawn to the seal on Naruto's stomach. _**"Lower, boneheads." **_Both Sakura and Naruto flushed red as she saw exactly what was showing, and Naruto quickly covered himself up, much to the Kyuubi's delight.

"You wanted to speak with us, Hokage?" Kirbie asked as both he and Eddie walked into her office. "Yes, come in. You two are going to be part of a three man squad for a dangerous mission into Earth country." "Who's the third member?" Eddie asked as he looked around. "That's a good question, Kotetsu, let him in please." Both Kirbie and Eddie looked at the door as it opened, revealing none then Fuusha Bryan.

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THE COMEDY TRIANGLE HAS BEEN COMPLETED!!! PREPARE FOR YOUR ULTIMATE DEMISES.

_**Kyuubi : And you people said I was creepy...**_

AnkokuSama : I think I understand what you mean, but she can't just exactly waltz into another country, kill the strongest ninja in a village and walk back without starting a fight.

Narutokyubi9 : True, the Naruto universe seems to focus on Buddhism or something close to it, but that doesn't mean everyone in the village is a Buddhist.

Riderofdragons : Well, the length is something that everyone has a different prefered length for, but I do believe it might be better if I make my chapters a bit longer, do you have a suggested number of words? As for the second part, I changed that in chapter 33, but I'm afraid I haven't found the time yet to change it in previous chapters, please bear with me for a bit longer.


	29. Chapter 29 : 'Kunai Fodder', eh?

Kyuubi : **What in the name of the fourth hokage's frozen corpse!?**

What is it this time...

Kyuubi : **I've been reading these 'fanfictions' as you mortals call em, and all of them either make me seem like an evil bastard... Or a woman...**

... Do you even have a gender?

Kyuubi **: Course I do, want proof?**

No thanks, I'll believe your word for it.

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Chapter 29 : 'Kunai Fodder', eh?

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The Eight Tails blinked a bit, staring in the eyes of the creature the Leader just summoned. "Since when can you summon snakes?" The bijuu asked. "Excuse me? I'm not just a snake, I'm the leader of all snakes, bow down, bitch." Manda hissed at the bijuu. All of the eight tails wrapped themselves around Manda in a split second. "I was going to let you live, but I guess I'll have to devour you too."

Kabuto sped through the forest, dodging suiton jutsu's that were coming at him from everywhere. "Don't you ever give up!? Just because you look like a shark, it doesn't mean you have to keep hunting me like one!" "Who are you calling a shark, four eyes!?" Kisame yelled back. He came to a sudden stop when he saw Kabuto standing in the middle of a clearing, looking at something. _[i'That insult couldn't have pissed him off that much, I wonder what made him stop.'[/i_ Kisame wondered as he fell out of the tree and peeked into the clearing.

"Orochimaru! You have to get out of here!" Kabuto yelled at the pale man. "Your still alive?" Danzou asked as he pulled himself up from a tree, his hand still on the snake bite he recieved from Anko. "That doesn't matter, the Akatsuki is coming!" Danzou's eye widened. "Very well, we shall withdraw, after I tie up some loose ends." Orochimaru said, turning his back to Kabuto. The glassed man closed his eyes and nodded, instantly after feeling something sharp penetrate his stomach. His eyes shot open and focused on the Kusanagi piercing through him.

"Oh, this is getting good!" Kisame whispered to himself. "What is?" Itachi asked as he landed next to Kisame. Said man flew half a foot into the air. "Don't scare me like that!" "Yea yea, what's going on?" "Orochimaru is backstabbing Kabuto, wanna move in for the kills?" Kisame asked the Uchiha. "Let's see where this goes first."

"Why? ..." Kabuto asked, as a snake pulled the Kusanagi out of him. "Because you are weak, and I no longer have a use for you, now be a good little pawn and die, will you?" Orochimaru said, moving over to Danzou. "And you... I never really liked backstabbers." He said as he swept his Kusanagi over the man's neck.

"Well isn't that Ironic, when Orochimaru starts to lose fights, he starts to lose henchmen." Maria whispered as she landed behind Itachi and Kisame. "Are you here to steal our prey again?" Kisame asked angrily. "You sound a lot like Kakuzu right now..." The woman said, snickering. "Calm down you two, the main idea is that we either move in now and kill em all, or stay back and let this unfold." "I vote the second, I don't wanna get forced into a corner, besides if we're lucky they'll kill eachother." Kisame mumbled.

In the Konoha hospital, Sano paced in the hallway outside of Kenshin's room, cursing hard enough to make monks shiver. The door to the room on the opposite side of Kenshin's room opened, and a rather pissed off Saitoh walked out. He punched Sano in the face, walked back into his room, and closed the door. Sano rubbed his cheek. "The sooner that guy gets his voice back, the sooner he can tell me to shut up instead of hitting me..."

Sakura sat quietly on the bed, now fully clothed. She was staring out into space as Naruto started boarding up the hole Itachi made, mumbling something about never getting along with Uchihas. Sakura jumped up and dashed out of the room. Naruto ran after Sakura, wondering why she ran off like that all of a sudden. He caught up to her at the exit of town. "Mind telling me what's going on?" Naruto asked, ignoring the chuunin on duty who were rather interested in the conversation. "I'm going to Tsunade, I want to get to the bottom of this." Sakura said, passing through the gate. Naruto cursed inwardly, he couldn't leave Root right now, Tsunade would use him as a punching bag for weeks, and that's if Hinata came out ok! "It's ok, I'll be back soon." Sakura said, copying Naruto's goofy grin before running off.

Deidera landed in front of a large crater near the shoreline, that was slowly flooding with water. "I wonder what landed here... Well, don't wanna waste a perfectly fine cloak." The clay manipulator said as he threw his cloak off, and took a dive into the crater. He found the water rather cold, though he thought nothing of it and swam deeper into the water, until he saw it, or rather, him. A man, standing in the center of the crater, long silver hair that seemed to float on the waves, covered the entire person from sight. Shocks of electricity ran out of the man and towards Deidera, who desperately tried to swim out of the water. Help came for the man in the form of a vine, that curled itself around the man's waist and pulled him out. "Thanks, Zetsu." Deidera said as he finished coughing up water. "No problem, now let's get the hell out of here, before that guy gets out of the water."

Naruto walked down the dark corridors of his mind, wanting to have a word with the Kyuubi. To his suprise, he heard the Kyuubi loud and clear before he even got close to the gate. It sounded like he was... singing? This was turning out to be a good day after all... **"Fumikomuze akuseru kake hiki wa naisa, son dayo. Yoru wo nukeru."** The Kyuubi sang out loud as he sat in the darkest part of his cage, back turned to the bars. "So, that's what you do in here all day..." Naruto said, holding back his laughter. **"Eep! I mean... Euhm... Look! Sakura is undressing over there!"** "That won't work on me... not after the last seven times... Look, I got something to ask you."**"I don't like the sound of that." **"Yea, well I don't like the sound of your singing." **"That's a low one" **"Yea, Kirbie seems to excel in those... Anyway, what you would've done in that euhm... problem?" **"The Hyuuga girl is safe with that 'teme' guy, so I would've followed pinky, besides, since when have you been scared from that old woman?"** "Great, now I gotta go after her..." Naruto said as he ran away from the cage.

**"Uzumaki Naruto! Get your ass back here!"** The Kyuubi yelled. Something in his voice made Naruto freeze, or maybe was it because the Kyuubi never used Naruto's full name before. **"What else do you want to ask?"** Naruto slowly turned around and stepped up to the cage, motioning the bijuu to come closer. The fox obeyed, and Naruto whispered something into his ear. The fox's eyes widened, and a grin of excitement grew on his face. **"That sounds smart... Where'd you steal the idea from?"** "Great, so we'll work on it later then!"

A man poofed into existence behind Iruka, who was in the middle of teaching his class. "Hey Iruka, guess what." Kakashi said in an upbeat voice. "If it has anything to do with that perverted stuff you call literature, get the heck out of my classroom before I burn it and stick it down your pants." Iruka said before closing his eyes and counting to ten. "Not the book!!!" Kakashi cried out overly dramatic, before poofing away. "I'm telling you, that guy is giving me gray hairs... does he want them to become a new fashion, or does he start to think he's getting old?" Iruka mumbled as he turned his attention back to his class.

"So, what do we do?" Eddie asked Tsunade, not even bothering to say 'Hello' to Bryan. "You guys are group 'Kunai Fodder' in the mission to assasinate the Tsuchikage." There was a silence in the room. "Kunai Fodder!?" The trio called out at the same time. "Relax, it's just a name... An accurate one, but still just a name. Anyway, as you may or may not know, the Tsuchikage has demanded Naruto dead, so, in cooperation with the Nijikage, we shall assasinate him before this gets out of hand. You three will impersonate two leaf ANBU and Naruto to stall for the assasination group, should they fail, you three will back them up and take the Tsuchikage out by force." Another silence consumed the room. "Just a name my ass..." Kirbie spoke up.

"Alright, before we leave, there is something you must know. When I came here from rainbow, rock ninja's followed us, probably to make sure we don't do anything rash, and keep us safe, so outside of town, you must act like actual rainbow ANBU, and be sure not to talk about the mission, once we reach Iwa, we'll split up and you'll be on your own for the mission." the Nijikage explained as they calmly walked through Konoha. "But won't the spies find it strange if you suddenly gain three ANBU?" One of the ANBU said, dodging a flying fish, looks like it was friday again, the genins are gonna have their hands full trying to stop the fish from getting thrown around. "That's why three of my escorts will stay behind, don't worry, they're all trustworthy and aware what's going on." The kage answered. "Speaking of which, might I get your names? It'll be suspicious if I just keep calling you 'ANBU'." "My name is Nara Shikamaru, this is Yamakana Ino, and that's Tenten."

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The names of the ANBU has been brought out! Will the six leaf ninja be able to succeed? When did the Leader get the ability to summon snakes? What are Naruto and Kyuubi planning? Why the heck am I talking to myself? Find out next time!

I do now declare war on Kirbie for fanfiction supremacy! Watch your step buddy, caus I'm gonna be right there to trip you!

Eddie : Your gonna make a char based on him in your story to become the center of all jokes, just to piss him off, huh?

Kirbie : Damn straight.

Hope you liked the chapter, and remember, when you talk to god, it's called being religious, when god answers, it's called schizophrenia!

Kyuubi **: You are so going to hell...**

Meh, I'm an Atheist.

Kyuubi : **You just wait until the other three Foxes of the Apocalypse get here...**

Aren't they horsemen?

Kyuubi : **Not in my book, bitch.**


	30. Chapter 30 : Run, meatball, run!

Sorry that it took a whole week to update, but my arm has been killing me, and typing with just my right hand (I'm lefthanded) is a pain in the rear.

If my calculations are correct (nine chances out of ten, I'm way off) I'm over halfway for the story... Great, that makes me sad...

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Chapter 30 : Run, meatball, run!

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The eight tails' hold around Manda tightened, until he dissapeared in a puff of smoke. Leader landed calmly in the middle of the swamp, frogs and other swamp dwellers instantly rolling over and dying as he got close. "My my, that is some killer intent your showing, I wonder what I should cut off first, a leg, an arm, or maybe that Rock headband your so desperately trying to hide." The snake spoke up, making the Leader flinch. "Yes, I know your an ex-Rock nin, but I know much more then that about you... I wonder if Kyuubi would be interested in this info." The apparently female snake continued. In a sudden flash, the tails crashed down on the Leader, only to find a barrier of rock blocking the attack. "If you really know that much about me, I have no reason to hide my jutsus anymore." The Leader said, visibly relieved as he took his hat off, letting his spiky red hair show, together with his empty looking eyes. "My my, people are going to think your related to the Shukaku's host with that hair." The Yabi said with a grin. "For a snake that lives in a swamp, you sure know a lot about the outside world..." The Leader replied, rather curious of how that was possible.

Sakura ran through the forest, at a speed she didn't even know she possesed. _'Father, let this all just be a silly mistake...'_ she thought, getting a rather deep snort in reply. _**'Fat chance'**_ The Kyuubi said bluntly, as always._'Thanks for the support...'_

Naruto ran through the forest, following Sakura's scent. Unlike her though, he didn't dodge trees, he ran through em. _**'What's the rush, cowboy?'**_ "I gotta beat Sakura to Konoha, you know how they are against me, they'll act the same towards her." Kyuubi was silent for a while. _**'Faster, meatball! For the love of your mate faster!'**_

Kabuto stood up until he reached a slight crouch, his left hand still on the wound in his stomach. Danzou stopped sputtering, and Orochimaru turned towards Kabuto, frowning when he saw the boy was still standing. "Can't you be a good pawn and die?" Orochimaru asked, flicking the blood of Kusanagi. Kabuto shook his head, stood up fully straight, and slowly formed some handseals. He pulled a bit of his hair out and held it over his wound, then let the healing chakra do it's job as the hair was absorbed in the wound, and the wound closed in a matter of seconds. "A couple of bad hair days in exchange for living to fight some more, sounds fair to me." Kabuto said, mimicing Orochimaru's calm attitude.

Kirbie, Eddie and Bryan still had an hour to go before they had to head out, so the first two decided to show Bryan around... In other words, annoy some people. The first stop in their reign of mockery was Jiraiya. The aged man was, once again, spying on the women relaxing in the hot springs from a tree. Kirbie pointed to the pervert, then to Eddie, who understood what he meant. Eddie walked over to the fence seperating the tree and the hot springs, coughed a little, and cried out in the most feminine voice he could manage. "EEEEEEEEEEEEK! There's a pervert in that tree!" Jiraiya panicked, jumped out of the tree, and ran for his dear life, shortly followed by at least ten women. "That was to easy..." Eddie mumbled. "Next stop will be a little harder, namely---" A flash of pink and red passed the trio, sending all of em spinning. "What in the name of the tailed demons was that?" Bryan asked, holding onto his head as his eyes spun around randomly. "That was Haruno Sakura, which means that..." Kirbie stuck his foot out where Sakura had passed merely seconds ago. Eddie suddenly found his watch very interesting. Three seconds later, Naruto tripped over Kirbie's foot. "five point seven seconds." Eddie said, grinning at a confused Bryan. "That's more then a second slower then last time, give it to me straight doc, did she have a huge headstart, or are you growing old?" Kirbie mocked, dodging the rocks that Naruto chucked at him.

The Leader jumped away from the rock barrier, seconds before it broke under the weight of the eight tailed demon. The Yabi instantly followed, opening it's mouth in preperation to swallow the Akatsuki leader. The man extended his hand towards the demon, wires jumping out of his sleeve and whipping at the gigantic snake. "Suiton! Mizu Kabe no jutsu!" The Yabi cried out as the swamp water rose up to form a wall of protection in front of the creature. The water hadn't even dropped yet, or the demon called out another jutsu. "Ninpou! Bibu Kasei no jutsu!" The Bijuu's tails extended and followed after the Leader, whipping, grabbing, throwing and strangling him. The Leader landed into the swamp, followed by the Yabi, who was intent to swallow the man whole.

"Wait a minute, aren't you that guy from Rainbow?" Naruto asked as he finally noticed Bryan. "Yea, he's here for a mission." Kirbie mumbled, rubbing one of the many bumps he had recieved from the thrown rocks. "But, aren't you the Nijikage?" "I was, but I was booted out of the seat because I was too 'incompetent' for the job." Bryan said with a light sulk. "Wow, that's tough... They booted you out because you were sterile?" Eddie asked, making the others slap their forehead.

The Kusanagi shot out of Orochimaru's hand and towards Kabuto, who managed to dodge it right in time. The sword flew into the woods, nearly hitting Kisame as it flew over his head and hit the tree he was sitting in front of. His eyes focused on the still shaking sword above his head, and he instantly paled. "Let's get the heck out of here." Kisame mumbled, not wanting to be fifty miles around the sannin or his sword. "You guys can go, and could you do me a favour?" Maria asked, looking a bit pleadingly. The two men sighed. "What is it?" Itachi asked, not wanting to run one of Maria's errands again. "Could you pick up Joshu for me? He's resting a bit east from here." "He's resting, what happened?" Kisame blurted out, forgetting Joshu was something Maria usually kept stiff about. "Danzou wounded him, he'll be fine, but he has to see Kakuzu." Both men gulped. Zetsu once planned to eat Joshu after the Leader told Zetsu to stop going out to random villages and get attraction to him by eating random people. Maria heard about the plan and had hung Zetsu upside down above a group of very agressive animals. Not wanting to suffer the same faith, the two men instantly left, almost feeling sorry for Orochimaru... Almost.

Kakuzu and Hidan stood in front of the hokage's office, waiting for the other Akatsuki members, while being under constant watch by the ANBU. Something bodyslammed Hidan in the back, sending his head into the wall. "Hidan... You ok?" Kakuzu asked, resisting to urge to kick Hidan all the way through the wall. "I'm fine, do me a favour and pull me out, will you?" Hidan asked as he stopped struggling to get out of the wall. Kakuzu rolled his eyes and grabbed both of Hidan's legs, then pulled him out. Hidan's eyes were drawn to the thing, or rather person that had bodyslammed him. She sat there, shaking with fear, staring straight at the two Akatsuki members. "Hey, she looks familiar, have we tried to kill her before?" Hidan asked, having the memory of a goldfish. "She doesn't have a bounty on her head, so I don't care." Kakuzu responded, never giving the pink haired girl a second glance. A foot implanted itself into Kakuzu's face, sending him skidding down the hallway. Hidan turned towards Kakuzu, only to see a body twist in midair, before planting his knee in Hidan's neck. The man landed in front of the girl, who had just recovered from her shock. "Naruto, why the heck are you kicking our guests around the room?" Tsunade asked, her eye twitching as she opened the door to her office. "What!? The Akatsuki are your guests?" Sakura asked confused. "Come in, I'll explain everything. And Naruto, get the guests in too." Tsunade said, resisting the urge to order Kotetsu to make a punching bag out of him. Naruto sulked before going after both Akatsuki members, dragging them behind him by their legs.

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Chapter 33 is drawing closer, so prepare for a new(and according to the other place I post this, superior) type of writing!

Riderofdragons : I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the help!

CrazyKidDeath : There is a perfectly logical explanation for that... Which I conveniently forgot.

Armchair Sailor : Note to self, improve the older chapters when I'm done with the story.

Wind797 : I can't make any promises, but I've got the basis for a lemon thought out... All I need now is a dictionary and inspiration for it, the latter being quite hard.

On another note, is it possible to delete a non-anomynous comment?


	31. Chapter 31 : Itachi said what?

Itachi leant against a tree as his companion checked Joshu's vitals. "Is it ok to move him, or do we have to bring Kakuzu over?" The Uchiha asked, more annoyed then worried. "It's risky, I think it's best if one of us gets Kakuzu while the other keeps guard." Kisame said, both him and Joshu stared at the younger man. "Fine, I'll go get him, just don't come crying to me when you come face to face with Orochimaru without me..." He said as he picked Hattori up and walked away.

The Leader somersaulted out of the swamp water, dodging yet another bite from the Yabi. He landed in a handstand and used chakra to push himself off the ground. His cape decided to call it quits and flew from his back. The Leader quickly ran through some handseals as the Yabi also surfaced and jump into the air. "Dendou Dageki no jutsu!" The man cried out, aiming his palm to the Yabi. a ball of electricity shot out of the ninja's hand, flying towards the snake at high speed. "Kasai Doragon no jutsu!" Yabi called out in return, spewing a dragon consisting out of pure heat at the ball. The two jutsu's impacted, the resulting explosion sending both fighters flying.

Kakuzu cracked his jaw, still feeling a little numb from the kick. Hidan on the other hand, acted like nothing happened, as they leant against the wall besides the Hokage. Naruto and Sakura sat in front of the Hokage, waiting until she had formed her explanation. "It's like this, Akatsuki came to the village shortly after the army left with a proposal. They would help us in our war against Orochimaru for a day, and we would burn every records of them or their members, plus stop trying to kill them." The Hokage explained calmly. "You made a deal with those criminals!?" Naruto asked, half startled. Hidan coughed loudly while Kakuzu just rolled his eyes. "Here it comes." The bounty hunter mumbled. "I am not a criminal, but a servant of Jashin, you non believer! I should smite you where you stand!" Hidan said. "Thanks a lot kid, now I gotta hear to him talk about his damn cult for three hours." Kakuzu growled as Hidan started an explanation about his religion, how he believes in it, and strangely enough, goats.

The Nijikage sat in a carriage, three ANBU sitting across and next to him, while another one drove and two more sat on top of the carriage. "How much longer?" The Nijikage asked the driver. "Fifteen minutes." Was the short answer. The Nijikage nodded and turned towards the three ANBU in the carriage with him. "You three go ahead, you never know what kind of bandits plague these roads." The Kage said, to which the three fake ANBU jumped out of the carriage and ran towards Iwa.

**_'It doesn't make sense, why would Akatsuki want their records cleaned all of a sudden? They never bothered with it before...' _**Kyuubi wondered. _'Maybe they're gonna do something that takes a lot of uninterrupted preperation time?'_ Naruto asked back. The doors of the office opened, and Itachi walked in calmly, Hattori slung over his back. He dropped the man in front of the Hokage. "Dad!" Sakura yelled, instantly running to the unconscious man's side. "Sakura! Stay away from him!" Tsunade ordered. Sakura froze in her tracks. Itachi walked up to Kakuzu and mumbled something to him about a man named 'Joshu', to which Kakuzu flinched. The man rushed out of the room, while Itachi walked up to the Hokage. "May I request one thing of you?" The Uchiha asked humbly. He stepped closer to the Hokage and whispered something into her ear. Tsunade visibly paled, hardly believing what she just heard. "I-I'll take care of it." She said. The red-eyed man bowed and walked to the door. "Jinchuuriki," He began as he opened the door. "Until we meet again." He finished, a hint of excitement in his voice as he closed the door. Tsunade jumped out of her seat and nearly flew towards the door. "Naruto, Sakura, come with me. Hidan, take Hattori to the prison, Izumo will show you the way."

On the other side of the door, Izumo paled and sent a death glare at Kotetsu, who had let out a sigh of relief. The door swung open, hitting Kotetsu in the face. Tsunade ran out of the door, followed by Naruto. Sakura trailed a bit behind, looking back at her father for just a few seconds. Kotetsu stood up and closed the door, only to have it fling open in his face again. Hidan walked out, Hattori slung over his shoulder lazily. He followed after Izumo, who tried to keep as much distance as possible between them. Kotetsu got up again and threw the door shut, nearly tearing it out of it's hinges. "I hate guard duty..."

Bryan used Henge shortly before the Konoha gates while Kirbie and Eddie took the appearance of two normal ANBU. They left the city and walked in a single line, Kirbie in front, Bryan in the middle and Eddie covering the rear. "So Bryan, why were you deemed incompetent?" Eddie asked, trying to get a conversation going. "Because I 'wouldn't be able to even plan a tactical escape out of a ball of hay.', or so they said was the reason."

Kabuto formed some handseals. "Chakra No Mesu." He said as his chakra covered his hands in a blueish glow. Orochimaru fell into a taijutsu stance, snakes coming out of his sleeves and taking a defensive position around the man. Kabuto raced forward, striking at Orochimaru's legs. The man jumped up. Instincts suddenly took over and he landed on Kabuto's arm before jumping to the left, barely dodging the katana that came down. Kabuto had no such luck as the katana cleaved his head. "Hmmm, I missed." Maria said as she pulled the sword out of Kabuto's skull. She threw the Kusanagi at Orochimaru, who dodged out of the way and grabbed the hilt as it passed. Maria raced forward. She ducked under a horizontal slice aimed for her neck, and jumped up into an upright position, starting an uppercut. Her fist never made contact though, as a sword that looked to be made out of bone blocked the attack. Maria grabbed a hold of the weapon and set both of her feet against the wielder's stomach, kicking herself back to her first position and ripping the sword out of the wielder's hand. "I thought Tobi had gotten rid of you." She said calmly as she crushed the weapon in her hand. "The ability to control and harden your bones, interesting. Kimimaro, was it?" "Orochimaru, we must withdraw!" Kimimaro said. Orochimaru nodded and the two fled out of the clearing. "Like I'll let you leave!" Maria started a dash after the duo, but came to a stop when a crow landed a few feet in front of her.

Tsunade stood in front of Jiraiya, who had just fallen out of his chair. "He actually said that!?" The man yelled, making everyone in the bar turn towards the two. "Yes, now you have to go to Root and deliver the message." The Hokage replied, ignoring the people looking at them. Jiraiya formed an X with his arms. "Oh heck no! I don't have a death wish!" He yelled, annoying people more then just a little. "Then I suggest you do it." Tsunade said calmly, cracking her knuckles. Jiraiya sulked. "Fine, but your paying the bill."

Sakura sat on a bench, her eyes fixating on the ground. She couldn't believe what Tsunade had told her only minutes before.

**_Flashback._**

"Forget about your father." Tsunade said without even looking at the girl. "W-wha?" The girl questioned her response. "He was brainwashed by Orochimaru and has done things that makes most other crimes committed against Konoha pale in comparisation. It'll be a miracle if he gets out of prison." The Hokage replied, still keeping her back to the girl. Naruto kept quiet, knowing that the council would never allow Hattori to roam free, even if Orochimaru's brainwashing was negated... It already had taken a lot of effort to get Sasuke free, and that was mostly because he was the last Uchiha that didn't go berserk. Sakura didn't respond, instead she ran off, barely able to keep the tears out of her eyes.

**_Flashback end._**

"Naruto..." Sakura said quietly. Naruto walked out from behind the tree next to the bench. "I want to become strong enough to take revenge on that man for brainwashing my father." She continued. If Sakura wasn't staring at the ground, she would've seen the grin form on Naruto's face before he turned around. **_'Sounds like all the pieces are falling into place, the hour of our plan strikes.'_** The Kyuubi snickered. Naruto stook a mental tongue out at Kyuubi.

Bryan sat in front of the campfire, staring into the fire like it had all the answers, while Kirbie and Eddie stayed back, the memory of a campfire blowing up in Kenshin's face still fresh in their memory. "Sooo..." Bryan trailed off. He was bored, tired and most of all annoyed. Why did he have to be the decoy? "Do you guys always get these kind of suicide missions?" Bryan asked with a mumble. "Yep. It's like there's some greater force that loves to mock our very existence." Eddie said with a sigh. Kirbie snickered. "You actually believe that there is something that controls our every move?" A rock fell on top of Kirbie's head. "He must hate you..." Bryan mumbled with a grin. "This proves nothing!" Kirbie countered.

Jiraiya stood in front of Sasuke, uncomfortably shifting under his gaze. "What do you want?" He asked, mildly annoyed of having so many people in his house. Jiraiya swallowed slowly. "I have a message from Itachi... He says he's sorry and he wants to explain you some things. He'll be waiting at the abandoned mill south from here in exactly a week from now." Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. "So he can kill me without having to come into a village of ninja's, I suppose?" "He said you could bring anyone you want..." Jiraiya continued. Sasuke's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Could you... Could you come with me?" The younger man asked, embarrassed that he felt the need for assistance. "Heh, your saying that like I wouldn't come anyway." Jiraiya said with a grin, opening Sasuke's front door.

Itachi leant against a tree as Kakuzu stitched yet another one of Joshu's more serious wounds. Kisame yawned as he leant on the hilt of Samehade, bored out of his skull. Three crows appeared through the foliage, one stopping in front of each of the men. Kakuzu stood up, slung Joshu over his arm and walked away. Kisame glanced at Itachi, who gave a short nod and followed after Kakuzu with his partner.

Jiraiya wouldn't have been easily suprised when he opened the front door. He wouldn't be suprised to see Akatsuki prepare to cleave him in two, he wouldn't have been suprised if one of Orochimaru's snakes flew at him, heck, he wouldn't have been suprised if the Kyuubi knocked on the front door and burned him to a crisp. He was suprised though, to see a certain blonde waiting for him. "Naruto? What do you want?" Jiraiya asked as he closed the door behind him. "Well, I came to ask a favour." Naruto said as he twiddled his fingers. "No, I'm not letting you give any more of my books to Kakashi before they come out, now tell that pervert to stop asking!" Jiraiya yelled at the smaller man, making him lose his balance. "It's nothing like that! ... I was wondering if I could borrow the training scrolls you have?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "What happened to the copies I gave you." The twiddling of Naruto's fingers quickened. "I ... Lost them..." Naruto mumbled. Jiraiya hung his head and sighed. "Naruto, your hopeless. Fine, which ones do you need?" "All of them." Jiraiya reached into his pocket and pulled three scrolls out of them. "Thanks Ero-sennin!" Naruto poofed away just in time to dodge a pebble flying towards him.

Tsunade rubbed her temples while letting out a sigh. She held up her hand and produced a bottle of sake out of thin air. For dozens of years, medical ninja's have been wondering why cells could only split a select number of times, and a way to negate it. Tsunade too had been intrigued by this, and spent most of her free time cracking her head over this mystery. If she succeeded in her purpose, ninja of Konoha would be able to stay in their prime for over hundreds of years. Tsunade slammed her head against the desk, cracking it. "Damn it all! What am I overlooking?" She raised her head and stared at the file in front of her. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks falling on a dog's back.


End file.
